By Jones Anlimah
In a bid to address the gender disparity within the Ghana Armed Forces, a recruitment sensitisation campaign has been held to expose female students in second-cycle educational institutions in the Ho Municipality of the Volta region to career opportunities within the Ghana Armed Forces.
This forms part of a nationwide recruitment campaign drive to expose female students in tertiary and second-cycle educational institutions in the country to help bridge the gender disparity in combat and combat support roles within the Ghana Armed Forces.
The recruitment campaign is part of ongoing efforts by the Ghana Armed Forces and its key partners and supporting agencies to promote gender diversity and inclusion within its ranks. By engaging with young women at an early stage in their educational journey, the military hopes to inspire future generations of female leaders in defence and security.
Students from Mawuli Senior High and Mawuko Girls Senior High School participated in the event. The Volta Regional Director of Education, Mr Francis Agbemadi, commended the initiative taken by the Ghana Armed Forces and its supporting partners to expose female students to career opportunities within the military.
He emphasised the importance of such programs in broadening the horizons of young women and empowering them to consider diverse career paths. He also expressed gratitude for the collaboration between the Armed Forces and educational institutions in the region, highlighting the positive impact the initiative will have on promoting gender equality and diversity in the workforce.
“Research has shown that female participation in those areas are low and it is these areas that will enable the female to climb the ladder to occupy the command areas, including the chief of air staff, the chief of naval staff, and the chief of Army staff. And so the initiative is to launch a campaign to sensitise the various career paths in the Ghana Armed Forces so that those who have the desire can take advantage of it,” Mr Agbemadi said.
The Gender Advisor to the Chief of Defense Staff, Group Captain Theodora Agornyo, said the initiative, among others, seeks to increase the number of women in combat and combat support roles in the Ghana army.
“For instance, in administration, you are in a service support role, but if you are in a combat or combat support role, you can rise to become a Commanding Officer. So we want to increase the number of women in decision making positions in the Ghana Armed Forces,” she said.
She added, “For now, we have a lot of men in the Armed Forces, and they occupy almost all the decision-making positions, but we want to give more opportunities to more women to join the service so that they can also reach that decision making point and increase the number of women in the United Nations peacekeeping operations as Commanders and other leadership positions.”
A senior programme officer in charge of women, youth, peace and security at the Kofi Anan International Peace and Training Centre (KAIPTC), Mrs Agnes Agbevadi, said the campaign by the Ghana Armed Forces was a significant step towards promoting gender equality and inclusivity in traditionally male-dominated sectors and encouraged especially ladies to take up the challenge.
