1325@25: Embracing the Future of Women, Peace and Security Agenda for a Gender-Responsive Ghana Armed Forces

I am so pleased to be here with you all to mark the 25th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 — the first Security Council resolution to explicitly address the disproportionate impact of armed conflicts on women and girls, and to call for women’s full and equal participation in peace-making, conflict resolution, peace-building, recovery, and reconstruction.

We stand in proud solidarity with the Ghana Armed Forces and all partners advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

On behalf of the SG and the UN Family, we extend our sincere appreciation to the funders of the Elsie Initiative, especially the Government of Canada, for their steadfast support in promoting gender-responsive peacekeeping and inclusive security. In the UN, we all appreciate that breaking down structural barriers is as important as increasing participation. Sustainability is key.

As well as Canada, Ghana has shown exemplary leadership in advancing women’s participation in peace operations. We salute the courageous women of the Ghana Armed Forces whose service in peacekeeping and post-conflict recovery continues to inspire across borders.

Let me say some great names:

• Major General Anita Asmah, Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) — the first African woman to lead a United Nations peace operation.
• Commodore Faustina Boakyewaa Anokye, former Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
• Captain Esinam Baah, who led her platoon for a year with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
• The late Major General Constance Emefa Edjeani-Afenu, Ghana’s first female Brigadier General and a pioneer of women’s leadership in the military — may she rest in peace.

Their achievements are a testament to Ghana’s commitment at home and its contribution to global peace and security.

We also celebrate Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme, recipient of the 2024 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award for her exceptional work as a Military Gender Adviser with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), and Captain Cecilia Erzuah, the 2022 laureate of the same award. Their leadership continues to elevate Ghana’s standing as a champion of gender equality in peacekeeping.

Through initiatives such as the Second Ghana National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, and the Elsie Initiative, the Government of Ghana and its partners — including the United Nations — are breaking barriers and expanding opportunities for uniformed women.

The Elsie Initiative Fund, working closely with UN Women and UN Peacekeeping, continues to drive innovation within security institutions, enabling more women to deploy meaningfully and contribute effectively to peace operations.

Yet even as progress continues, the UN Secretary-General’s recent report on Women, Peace and Security reminds us that conflicts — and the disproportionate harms they inflict on women — are intensifying. As long as peacekeeping remains central to global stability, women’s full and equal participation will remain indispensable to its success.

This month, the Elsie Initiative Fund is highlighting women’s leadership in peacekeeping through its special editorial series, “When Women Lead,” which showcases the insights, resilience, and achievements of uniformed women shaping peacekeeping worldwide. Major General Anita Asmah is featured in this series — and I’m sure we are all as proud as any Ghanaian !

The struggle to promote and advance women’s full participation in peacekeeping will be ongoing. There will always be reactionary forces that seek to roll back progress and re-assert the old hierarchies of power. Some will revive outdated arguments about physical strength or psychological readiness — arguments long disproved and irrelevant to today’s professional armed forces. We should not dignify such claims with rebuttal.

What matters is ensuring that men and women work together, as equals, in every sphere of service — and that the doors remain open and the pathways clear for every woman and girl who aspires to serve.

On behalf of the United Nations family, I again thank Ghana, Canada, and all nations taking tangible, forward-looking steps to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

Thank you.