As part of measures to promote women leadership in peace and security on the continent, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in partnership with ECOWAS, will hold a training course for selected participants to equip them to effectively provide leadership mentoring for women, peace and security actors in the sub-region.
The five-day workshop will be held in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire from 15-19 November 2021, and is funded by the Danish Government.
The target participants for the workshop are operational-level female and male staff of partner organizations within the ECOWAS sub-region, preferably working on women, peace and security, as well as those working on issues within the peace, security, gender and political affairs domains.
Aside from providing them with the requisite knowledge and skillsets to mentor women, peace and security actors in the region, the workshop will also provide the platform for participants to network among themselves and serve as catalysts for increasing female leadership in the peace and security sector.
The adoption of the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) in the year 2000, came with an increased effort to integrate gender perspectives into peace and security discourse, policy, and practice.
Twenty years after the passage of the Resolution, it is widely accepted that the incorporation of gender perspectives as governance and human rights principle in all sectors is essential for, and will enhance institutional and operational effectiveness by responding to the specific needs, concerns, and aspirations of men and women.
Nonetheless, there is an urgent need to promote female leadership and influence at all levels in the peace and security architecture – moving beyond increasing female representation to achieving meaningful participation of women in peace and security processes.
The KAIPTC, in keeping with its commitment to promote the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Africa, in 2019, established the KAIPTC Women’s Support Scheme to increase training opportunities for women and provide targeted capacity-building programmes for women.
Under the support scheme, the KAIPTC developed a training manual on leadership and mentoring for female leaders in the peace and security architecture.
Through the Danish development and humanitarian strategy: “The World 2030,” the Government of Denmark has been committing financial and technical support to promote the peace, stability, and development of the region and beyond.
Under a two-year project dubbed: ‘Promoting peace and security in West Africa’ the Government of Denmark is also working with the KAIPTC in three thematic areas; Women, peace and security, Conflict prevention, and Responsibility to Protect.
The Centre is poised to continuously engage its development partners and experts to explore more avenues to boost the capacity of women to occupy frontline positions in the peace and security framework.
