Women Empowerment and United Nations Peacebuilding: Evidence from the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service

Abstract

As the mandates of United Nations peace missions have become increasingly complex in scope and dynamics it has given the recognition for the need of gendered approach to all United Nations peace missions especially peace building in conflict prone zones. This development will adequately respond to the needs of women and children who mostly are vulnerable and become victims of armed conflicts. The integration of gender issues into peace building has taken two approaches (i.e., empowering women in participating in peace building missions and gender mainstreaming into the UN mandates and policies. The aim of the study is to analyse the effects of women empowerment on UN peace building with evidence from GAF and GPS. Primary data on women involvement in UNPB were collected from 353 personnel from the GAF and GPS using questionnaire and interview guide. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The framework of analysis used were Descriptive, correlation, comparison and synthesis and descriptive statistics and regression were used as techniques of analysis. The study discovered that the determinants of women empowerment on UNPB include access to education, decision-making, leadership roles, Economic freedom, and the right to control their lives. The effects of women empowerment on the United Nations Peace Building include advanced conflict resolution, evidence of enforcement of women’s rights, increased women in leadership positions, enhanced information collection, decreased children and women exposures in armed conflict and DDR. The study discovered that the following were the challenges of women empowerment: weak institutional capacity to handle women empowerment, there is little or no comprehensive local database on women empowerment, lack of clear national policies for women empowerment and mostly inexperienced staff left to handle women empowerment pieces of training. The study accepted the alternate hypothesis. The study concluded by developing an integrated system of all actors in the chain of women empowerment model to enhance United Nations Peace Building in the selected security sector in Ghana. The implications of the study finding for policy formulation include providing equal opportunities to male and female soldiers that commensurate their number in the Ghana Armed Forces. The study recommended that ensuring peace-building missions and state military organisations of its TCCs are appropriately funded, and should support operations that increase women’s engagement.