Public Agenda (Accra)
25 August 2008
editorial
It is heartening to hear that women have decided to be proactive in the search for a peaceful general election on December 7, 2008. Women Aglow International Ghana has been organizing prayer and thanksgiving sessions across the country to sensitise Ghanaians to promote peace. Just last week the women leaders in the Greater Accra Region became the latest to join the campaign train for a peaceful election in the country.
The urgent call for peace by the women leaders couldn't have come at the right time, given the fact that women who are the "mothers of human generation" are the worse affected in conflict situations, with the attendant hardships of rape, torture, hunger, and diseases.
Forced into a chaotic condition created by men, women become disoriented and dysfunctional. They find themselves in situations where they can barely see their way through life, let alone identifying and taking advantage of opportunities to improve themselves. This makes it compelling for women to do everything necessary to ensure peace in the country during the elections.
It is known fact that women are becoming more politically awakened and are asserting their rights in that area. These days it is common to hear women calling in to various political programmes and contributing meaningfully to the discussions. But they should move beyond that to have face to face interactions with the politicians who think the peace in Ghana must be sacrificed for their political gain.
If women had the opportunity and the capacity to play leading roles in our political and economic endeavours Ghana would be more peaceful today.
There is therefore a pressing need to increase the capacity of women through active nonviolence to promote a culture of peace throughout the country. If women develop the needed capacity for managing conflicts at the family and community levels, it will translate to the national level and may well be the formula to prevent post election conflicts in our dear country.
When women are provided with skills they can increase social mobilization, resolve conflicts peacefully, and develop "people power," which is the capacity of marginalized sections of society to demand an effective change.
In many places where men have failed to build peace women have succeeded in cooling down tempers. As we move closer to the December polls, women should get increasingly involved in brokering peace and prevailing on their husbands, brothers, cousins and sons not to beat the war drums.
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