GAF sensitises girls to take up careers in military
The country-wide sensitisation tour to senior high schools (SHS) and tertiary institutions to educate girls to consider making a career in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) made a stopover at Wa in the Upper West Region last Friday.
Advertisement
The girls are being encouraged to enter the GAF to become peacekeepers since, according to the forces, women naturally have the propensity to provide succour and happiness in situations of suffering.
The tour is to reach out to about 20,000 students across 85 SHSs and universities they hoped to tour. The programme was organised by the Women Youth, Peace and Security Institution of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in collaboration with GAF.
It is being funded by the Elsie Initiative Fund of Canada in line with the government’s commitment to the Elsie Institution for Women in Peacekeeping Operations. The Elsie Institute is a global effort to empower women in peacekeeping roles.
Join combat units
At the forum at the Wa SHS (WASEC), the Gender Advisor at the GAF Headquarters, Colonel Elvis Asamoah, urged the girls to consider joining the combat units of the various divisions of the forces and the international level at the United Nations (UN).
“I am looking at the infantry, armoured units, artillery. You have what it takes to conquer the sky, fleets and the troops,” he said. Col. Asamoah added that already, there were a lot of women in combat support services such as nursing, catering, administration and supply, but less for the combat duties.
He said the campaign was based on the United Nations Security Council Resolutions calling for increased participation for women in peacekeeping operations and Ghana’s leading example in Africa for its commitment to gender equality in the military.
Drill Sergeant-Major at the Military Academy and Training School, Patience Logah, encouraged the girls not to only study hard but also to form positive attitudes and skills to serve humanity in all facets of life.
