Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has said that Ghana is undergoing an assessment to benefit from the Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operation.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Meet- the- Press Series in Accra, Madam Botchwey said the Fund was meant to allow troop contributing countries to access flexible funding to support the deployment of trained and qualified women to United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping operations, with a focus on increasing the representation of women in positions of authority.
She said it was in recognition of Ghana's leading role in UN peacekeeping operations that the country was selected as a member of the contact group of the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations launched by Canada in 2017.
She said the initiative was an innovative multilateral project to help overcome barriers to women's participation in peacekeeping operations.
She said Canada had since established bilateral technical assistance and training partnerships with the Ghana Armed Forces and the Canadian Police Force.
"In May 2019, the Government of Ghana hosted the President of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, Madam María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés as part of a three-nation tour to bring the UN closer to the people and to strengthen multilateralism," Madam Botchwey said.
