Women, Peace & Security
Lack of commitment on the part of African leaders to domesticate the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 havs been cited as one of the reasons why there is low participation of women at decision making levels as well as the peace making processes on the African continent.
According to Ms. Tolulope Lewis-Tamako, Programmes Manager to the Women Peace and Security Institute of KAIPTC, the resolution UNSCR 1325 enjoins member states to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.
She noted that since its passage in 2000, only six countries in Africa have developed National Action Plan (NAP) to domesticate and support its implementation of the resolution. Ghana's framework on the NAP has just been finalized and awaiting its passage by policy makers.
Ms. Tamako was speaking at the second Gender and Development Dialogue series on the theme "Women's Leadership and Participations in Addressing Peace and Security" organized by Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in partnership with UN Women in Accra.
"The UNSCR 1325 is unique, it emphasizes on the importance of women's equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace; it also calls for an inclusion of women and gender perspective at all levels of decision-making; the need to increase women's role in decisions with regards to conflict; prevention and resolution; and endorses the inclusion of civil society groups in peace processes and calls on all actors involved in such processes to adopt mechanisms supporting local women initiatives," she stated.
She noted that since the passage of UNSCR 1325 ten years ago, resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1889 had been passed to strengthen and re-e