Women, Peace & Security
Brigadier General B.F. Kusi, Deputy Commandant at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPC), says adoption of the United Nation Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 has been one of the greatest achievements for the promotion of women, peace and security agenda.
The UN SCR 1325 and its follow-up resolution1888, 1890 and 1960 call on governments, states and international organisations to promote the participation of women in negotiations and governance, and in leadership positions in the security sector institutions.
He said in the last 13 years, since the adoption of the UNSCR 1325, numerous initiatives to raise awareness and promote ownership of UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security have taken place across Africa.
“In Africa, UNSCR 1325 was unanimously adopted by the Africa Union (AU) Security Council on 31st October 2000. It was later declared at the AU 38th ordinary session in July 2002 in South Africa that policies on gender mainstreaming are binding and should be realised at all levels.
The Deputy Commandant was speaking at a media interaction forum on women, peace and security at the KAIPC organised in collaboration with the Women, Peace and Security Institute (WPSI).
The forum was aimed at engaging the media to promote UNSCR 1325, to ensure enhanced visibility of women’s role in decision-making, in the prevention of violence against women and the advancement of peace and security.
Brigadier General Kusi said the coverage of women, peace and security issues remains low, and that this ultimately contributes to the low level of awareness among the wider citizenry such as Government employees, the private sector, as well as women and men who live and work in communities affected by conflict.
“This gap therefore calls for closer engagement with the media to understand and engage the public on issues of women’s participation in governance, peace and security.
“Today’s forum will thus begin the process of building a core group of journalists who are receptive and supportive of women, peace and security activities and priorities,” he said.
He further said in its effort to mainstream gender, KAIPC has made some key strides to support the implementation of UNSCR 1325 with establishment of the women, peace and security; the integration of gender in their training courses; and with the roll-out of a Master’s programme in Gender, Peace and Security which currently enrols 55 students on the programme.
The WPSI is a knowledge centre for expanding technical capacity, training and policy research and analysis on women, peace and security in order to better inform the broader peace and security agenda in Africa.
Its programmes provide institutionalised coordinated and coherent support to issues of women, peace and security.