The Gender and Communication Unit of GIZ Ghana and the Women Peace and Security Institute at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre as part of the International Women’s Day celebration is holding a week-long social media advocacy and sensitization campaign on gender-based violence and sexual harassment.

The program is in collaboration with the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) Program of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).

The broad aim of the Durbar is to sensitize the youth about Gender-Based Violence and to empower them to be advocates against Gender-Based Violence in their communities.

GIZ, KAIPTC, WIPNET and WANEP are uniting towards galvanizing support to #balanceforbetter the theme of the 2019 International Women’s Day

The week-long campaign will be climaxed with a day’s durbar on March 8, International Women’s Day, at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre for 200 students drawn from ten (10) Junior and Senior High Schools within the Accra and Tema metropolis.

To this end, the Durbar will draw on the expertise of carefully selected resource persons who will expose participants to the key components of gender and gender-based violence and the importance of respect for diversity to create a balance across all spheres of society.

This will be done with the aid of short videos and open discussions.

There will also be a World Café with five (5) thematic booths on different subject areas with experts and mentors to facilitate and engage the participants more specifically on the chosen themes.

Some of the side events planned for the day include; one-on-one counselling sessions where participants will have the opportunity to interact with trained and professional counsellors throughout the event.

This is to offer anyone who needs a listening ear, an avenue to seek redress or to share their stories in a private and trusted environment.

There will also be an IWD Photo Booth which is a branded space where photographs will be taken and shared by the youth and organisers to raise awareness of not only the event but more importantly the broader issues of gender parity, GBV and SH on social media and generate discussions among their peers, groups and networks.

As one of the aims of the event is to create advocates out of the participants.

There would be an information booth with resource materials on GBV and SH among others that participants can take back to their schools to engage with their colleagues to broaden the circle of advocacy and sensitization.

This partnership is borne out of a shared vision to highlight, promote and address equality and gender-based issues at the local, national, continental and global levels in pursuit of the GIZ Gender Strategy (2019-2021), the Maputo Protocol and the UN Security Resolution 1325.

Furthermore, there’s a joint recognition that no individual entity can effectively bring an end to the prevailing gender imbalances and disparities around the globe, and that meaningful impact can only be achieved through such joint efforts.

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

The theme for the 2019 celebration is #BalanceforBetter.

The anticipation is that as we embark on an exciting future there is the need to have a gender-balanced world to address the continuous drive for gender equity and this need for balance is not a women’s issue but a global one which affects and must reflect in the boardroom, government, sports arena, classroom, churches, mosques, security platforms, among others.

Invited guests will also include staff of the collaborating institutions—GIZ, KAIPTC and WANEP, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) among others.

About GIZ

As a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world.

GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security.

The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries all benefiting from our services.

They work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party.

Currently, GIZ promotes sustainable development in Ghana via more than 50 programmes and projects. Our activities cover currently four priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development, Agriculture, Governance as well as Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.

Additionally, our portfolio extends to other areas such as peace and security, and the environment. Another focus of GIZ’s work is linking business interests with development-policy goals.

Most of the programmes and projects we support in Ghana have successfully brought together national and international private companies, the public sector, and civil society groups to collaborate on development initiatives.

About the Women Peace and Security Institute (WPSI)

The Women, Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) is an institute of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).

The Institute works to support the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and its follow-up resolutions on women, peace and security in the context of Africa and beyond.

This is achieved through building technical capacity, research, policy engagement and analysis on women, peace and security in order to better inform the broader security agenda in Africa.

About the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET)

The Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) is a programme of WANEP, launched to provide a platform for women’s groups and associations working and living in conflict situations to form strong alliances aimed at ensuring women’s involvement in peacebuilding at all levels of West African societies.

Through a strategy known as “Women’s peace activism”, WIPNET focuses on the integration of women’s concerns and their participation in policy formulation and implementation regarding peace and security issues in the sub-region.

Its main objectives include the development of policy recommendations for mainstreaming women’s issues in peace and security; strengthening links among policy makers, technocrats and women’s groups, strengthening the capacity of women in peacebuilding at the community and national levels, building partnerships with women’s networks in other regions and sustaining women’s participation in formal peace building in West Africa.