The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has held its maiden edition of the Gender Advisers Cadre (GAC) to ensure total inclusivity of men and women in all activities of the Armed Forces.
The training was initiated by the GAF to equip the Gender Advisers to work effectively.
The opening of the two-day GAC was graced by the Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Mr. Seth Amoama yesterday, in Accra.
Addressing the participants, the CDS said gender mainstreaming should not only be about women but the focus must be on both sexes’ and their commitments and abilities to serve the Army and the country at large.
According to him, this can be achieved by the changing of perception, as well as fair and equitable distribution of opportunities and responsibilities based on capacities rather the sex of a person.
Mr Amoama was confident that regardless of one’s sex, all persons deserve a fair opportunity to express their potentials, which must be harnessed and integrated for a balanced development in society.
He said: “In discussing gender mainstreaming, there is the temptation to overly concentration on increasing female numbers in our rand hierarchy. That is good to do and we are all aware of what the Ghana Armed Forces is doing in that regard.”
The CDS was quick to add that he is not entirely against female numbers in the Army, however, the perception about gender mainstreaming, which have always been fought on women’s front or women’s thing.
This, he urged the participants to widen the scope of discussions so as enable decisions to end the general believe that Armed Forces ins only for men while soldiers also stop seeing their female counterpart as burden.
He equally urged the females to cease perceiving themselves as weak and fragile, therefore had to depend on men for support or deserve special dispensation.
“Anything short of these does not only breed inequality but also places huge burden on one’s sex and that is the male. Paradoxically, this same over burdened sex turn to acquire more experience, more exposure and are advantaged financially, which turns to be disadvantage to females at the end of the day,” he posited.
Facilitators of the training are Mrs. Joana Osei-Tutu, Head of Women Peace and Security and Dr Fiifi Edu-Afful, Research Fellow from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and Mrs. Lavinia Addae-Mensah, Deputy Executive Director from West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP).
By Wilhelmina Love Abanonave
The post GAF holds maiden edition of Gender Advisers Cadre appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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