In short
Course Date/Duration	16 – 27 October 2023.
Course Capacity	18 participants
Target Group	Middle level women working in Peace and Security
Course Language	English
Application Deadline	08 September 2023

Background

The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Ghana will organise the third cohort of the Inspiring African Women Leaders in Peace and Security (IAWL-PS) Programme.  IAWL-PS is organized by the Women Peace and Security Institute of the KAIPTC in partnership with the Geneva Centre for Security policy (GCSP), with funding from GIZ.

KAIPTC invites applications for admission to the 3^rd Cohort of the “Inspiring African Women Leaders in Peace and Security” programme.

Introduction

Since the adoption of the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in 2000, there is an increased effort at international, regional and national levels to systematically integrate gender perspectives into peace and security discourse, policy and practice.

In spite of all these efforts, globally, there remains a gap with regard to women’s presence, leadership and participation in Peace Support Operations (PSOs) from the grassroots community level through the national, regional, to the international level.

The KAIPTC since the adaptation of its Gender Policy has been applying an affirmative action system aimed at increasing female participation in its courses but this has yielded marginal results. This coupled with the Centre’s 2019-2023 Strategic Plan seeks to among other things, to “Enhance KAIPTC’s contribution to fully implement the African Union (AU) Protocol on the African Charter on the rights of women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) and the UNSCR 1325”. In line with the KAIPTC’s third strategic objective and linked to a needs-based training portfolio which is specifically considering gender-specific aspects, the Centre envisages an increase demand for women leadership in PSO in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the AU.

It is in line with this that the Women Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) together with the GIZ Support Programme to the KAIPTC developed and established this Women Support Scheme in 2019.

Course Aim

The Inspiring African Women Leaders in Peace and Security Programme aims at building capacity and networking opportunities for women to increase their leadership and participation in the peace and security environment.

 

Expected Outcome

It is expected that through the programme the participants will be able to:

• Apply leadership and mentorship skills set acquired to effectively guide and mentor other women in the peace and security environment;
• Design and implement concrete short, medium and long-term plans and actions that respond to the needs of their environment;
• Design interventions that target and increase participation of women at all levels;
• Apply skills developed to harness, lobby, advocate and/or mobilize support to implement their designed projects through this network, plus further linkages, and processes across other environment;
• Contribute to effective change in peacebuilding environments, and strengthen enabling environments (including institutional) for peacebuilding stakeholders to implement desired changes.

Target Group

• The programme is targeted at middle level women in Peace and Security.
• Based on the core principles of the WPS agenda which are Participation, Protection Prevention and Relief and Recovery.

Criteria for selection

• Applicant must be a citizen of and resident in an African country at the time of application;
• Applicant should have at least two years of working experience in the peace and security field in a mid- level management position at the time of applying for the course;
• The applicant must show potential for leadership in their field of work;
• The Applicant must show ability to apply themselves and undertake the full rigors of the programme;
• Women working with grassroots community-based organisation are strongly encouraged to apply.
• The applicant must have a good command of the English language (both oral and written)

Programme Approach

The programme will consist of the following:

1. A two-week in-house leadership training program (to be held from 16 – 27 October 2023): This will focus on developing specific capacities among the cohort. The training programme will cover four broad modules, namely:

• The Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda
• Inspiring Women Leaders
• The Elective Courses
• Project Design

 

As part of the programme, participants will present leadership challenges relating to specific projects they are working on. The training programme will help participants to identify strategies to address these leadership challenges and fine-tune the project proposal they present for the course.

1. Coaching and webinar sessions (to be held virtually November 2023 – March 2024): Participants will have access to coaches during and after the training programme who will support them to fine tune and implement their proposed projects. The post onsite engagement with the coaches will be virtual. There will be a series of tailor-made webinars for the cohort.

 

1. A one-week onsite training on mentoring course (March 2024): This is the final phase of the programme. It provides an opportunity for participants to develop mentoring skills and ensures that they do not only become leaders but are also able to support the development of leadership capacities in other female colleagues.

Facilitation and Methodology

The group size will be kept to a maximum of 18 participants. This is to ensure that sufficient time is allocated to each participant to be able to deliver and receive adequate interaction time with facilitators and coaches.

The training methodology will take a participatory, learning-by-doing approach with a strong focus on the practical application of the learned insights. This will include interactive sessions, group works, presentation and other forms of knowledge exchange (webinars). There will be exchange with senior women from various fields to engage with the participants and share their experiences with the participants. There will be sessions of image enhancement with skills on public speaking and pitching offered to the participants.
The overall objective in delivering the activities in this scheme is to make it interactive and hands-on

Course Delivery
The course will be delivered at the KAIPTC, Accra – Ghana.

Contact at KAIPTC

Mrs Marylyn Agblor
Training Coordination Officer
Tel. 00 233 (0) 302 718200 Ext. 1012
Fax. 00 233 (0) 302 718201
Email: marylyn.agblor@kaiptc.org

 

Ms. Adelaide Ekua Otoo
Course Director
Email: Adelaide.MOtoo@kaiptc.org