The National Peace Council (NPC) yesterday launched a programme to build the capacity of women in conflict prevention before and after the 2020 elections.
The project dubbed, Increasing the voices, participation and inclusion of women in conflict prevention’ is being founded by the Canadian High Commission under its Canada Funds for Local Initiative (CFLI) programme.
The programme to be executed through training workshops, dialogue sessions and consensus-building is targeted at more than 160 participants from queen mothers’ associations, women’s groups, political and traditional leaders, youth groups and civil society organisations.
The chairman of the NPC, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante launching the project said the funding has come at the right time, as the country was preparing towards the 2020 general elections.
He stated that the programme which begins from November 4 and 5 at Winneba in the Central Region would be followed by similar workshops in Kumasi in the Ashanti region, Dixcove in the Western Region and Prampram in the Greater Accra Region, adding that “these regions were carefully selected because they have been identified as potential hot spots during elections.”
Prof. Asante stated that increasing women inclusion in conflict management would have a positive impact at the national, regional and local levels during crucial periods before and after elections.
He expressed gratitude to the Canadian government for supporting the NPC to deliver on its mandate of facilitating and developing mechanism for conflict prevention, management, and resolution towards building sustainable peace in the country.
The chairman urged the media and other partners to support the NPC in the implementation of the project and also contribute positively to the consolidation of the objectives of the council.
The Political Counsellor of the Ghana High Commission, Pasquale Salvaggio, said increasing women’s participation in conflict resolution would promote human rights;good and inclusive governance, in order to increase women’s participation in peaceful election.
Ghana, he explained, has positioned herself as a beacon of democracy in Africa and expressed Canada and the rest of the world’s readiness to support the country to maintain that status in order to continue conducting elections that are inclusive peaceful, free and fair, adding that “the significant part of these successes could be attributed largely to the active participation and vigilance of the citizenry.”
The CFLI, he indicated, was proud to be associated with a project that would attract and increase women participation in elections in areas that previously registered low participation from the vulnerable, marginalised groups especially people living with disabilities.
Mr Salvaggio commended the peace council for its commitment to ensure the success of another milestone of the democratic process in the country.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU
