The Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre( KAIPTC) through its Women Peace and Security Institute (WPSI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, is holding a week's certificate course on "Gender, Peace and security" for women in Ghana and selected countries in West Africa.

The course is being attended by more than 31 participants through a hybrid plan of face to face and virtual presentations.

Participants are from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Liberia.

The participants are drawn from Gender Desk Officers of the various MMDAS, Social Welfare officers, Civil Society organizations, Disaster Management organizations and Queen mothers.

The course is to introduce participants to the gendered approach of Women, Peace and Security at the grassroots level and also to equip them with basic tools for analytical thinking and relevant skills in Gender, peace and security.

It would also enlighten the participants on how to handle the day to day challenges faced by women and girls in situations of insecurity.

The course would provide an opportunity to enhance the technical and theoretical knowledge of grassroots women leaders in Anglophone West Africa, whose work addresses issues of peace and security.

Addressing the participants, Major-General Francis Ofori, Commandant of KAIPTC, said the course was to provide a unique forum for participants from diverse backgrounds and sectors to collaborate and to build relationships and develop a viable network.

This, he noted, would help the participants not only to implement policies but harnessed their voices to inform policies that affected women in their localities.

He said the course with participants from across the Sub-Region would enrich the diversity of the class and widen the learning experience.

Major-General Ofori said in 2000, the United Nations Security Council acknowledged through its Resolution 1325, the changing nature of warfare where civilians were increasingly targeted and women continually excluded from the participation in the peace process.

He said the resolution specifically addressed how women and girls were disproportionally affected by violent conflict and war and recognized the critical role that women could and already play in peace-building efforts.

He said since the adoption of Resolution 10, other follow-up Resolutions were added, stressing the need to prevent violence against women, protect women in situations of insecurity, promote female participation, especially in decision making in various peace processes and ensure that the needs of women were addressed in relief and recovery processes after conflict insecurity.

The commandant noted that, despite the evidence and the extensive normative framework including the ten UN Security Council Resolution on Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, 84 National Action plans and 55 Local Action plans in eight countries, major gaps in implementation remained.

Major-General Ofori indicated that while many achievements were made across the globe as a result of the resolution, the persistent lack of an accountability mechanism at the global, national and local levels have hindered the process.

He said, "the ability to provide these mechanisms are usually engineered from the grassroots level with local actors leading the initiatives and offering guidelines.

However, these actors at times may not have the full understanding of the concept and theoretical underpinnings of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. It is against this background that this course was developed to help fill the gap by partnering with women at the grassroots working on peace and security Agenda,"

He said COVID-19 pandemic had put even greater strain on the Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda as many governments diverted resources and attention from the implementation of the WPS commitments to respond to the coronavirus threat.

"Moreover, the pandemic is compounding many challenges faced by women peace-builders on the ground and will continue to pose economic and security threats in the years to come," he noted.

He lauded the government of Denmark, under its "Promoting peace and security in West Africa: Danish Support to West Africa 2021-2022", for sponsoring the course.

"We are grateful to the government of Denmark for her commitment and partnership with the KAIPTC to advance the Women Peace and Security Agenda specifically for funding this training".

Major-General Ofori encouraged the participants both onsite and virtual to bring their experiences to bear and learn from the very seasoned subject matter experts of the KAIPTC.

The participants would be taken through, "women Peace and Security Agenda, Women's roles in peace processes in Africa: contributions and challenges, Information gathering and Data analysis, Gender Leadership and Governance.

Other topics are, "Gender and development in Africa, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Concept of Gender Peace Security Studies, Agency in conflict, peace and security and Governance.