The National Peace Council (NPC) has organised a training workshop on gender mainstreaming in peacebuilding, for its staff and council members in Kumasi.

The two-day workshop attended by participants from all the regions across the country sought to, among other things, strengthen the skills of participants in the development and implementation of gender-sensitive programmes in peacebuilding.

Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the training was also expected to enhance the understanding of participants on key issues, policies and principles relevant to gender and peace-building.

Ms Jenifer Asuako, the Programme Analyst on Gender Issues of UNDP, said conflict impacted both the male and female differently, thus, it was important for those involved in conflict resolution and peace-building to acquire a better understanding of the gender dimension of conflicts.

“It is very important not to only look at men as those who perpetrate conflict but also look at the roles that females play in any conflict situation,” she said.

She said women were often seen as victims of conflicts but a UNDP- supported research, recently conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), showed that women could be active participants in conflicts.

She cited a report, which said that some women verbally assaulted political opponents of their parties and this could potentially spark violence.

“So it is important that people who promote peace and do conflict analysis understand that both males and females have distinct roles to play”, she pointed out.

Reverend Emmanuel Badu Amoah, the Ashanti Regional Executive Secretary of the NPC, said there was the need to ensure gender equity during conflict resolution and peace-building processes since conflicts affected not only those who were actively involved.

He said despite the fact that conflict largely affected women and children, it was disheartening that they were not involved in the peace-building processes because there was no level playing field for both sexes.

“Women have always and continue to be marginalised at peace negotiation tables, hence there must be conscious effort to rectify the anomaly. In essence, we need to incorporate gender in all areas of human development,” he said.