Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and her colleague female Foreign Ministers all over the world have vowed to ensure that ‘women’s perspectives’ feature prominently in the foreign policies of their respective countries.
Female Foreign Ministers reached this firm conclusion at the first ever Women Foreign Ministers Summit in Canada held from the 21st to 22nd of September, 2018, at Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
The two-day summit co-hosted by Canada’s Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, along with the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini, brought together more than half of the world’s top women diplomats from Andorra, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Namibia, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, South Africa and Sweden. Their discussions focused on topics such as conflict prevention, democratic growth and eliminating gender-based violence.
“This meeting represented a historic occasion,” said Canada’s top diplomat Chrystia Freeland, who also took the opportunity to announce the creation of Canada’s first Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security. “This is not about creating a pink ghetto. This is quite to the contrary. This is about highlighting the importance and the role and the rights of women and girls in the world,” Freeland said. “It’s about talking about the ways women in leadership positions can be particularly engaged in championing those rights,” she added.
Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, expressed her great delight to have been part of the historic summit. She added that “Women’s economic and political empowerment is critical to building a safer, more prosperous, inclusive world.”
She was hopeful the consultations between the female Foreign Ministers will continue long after the summit to ensure that they achieve all that they have purposed to do in bringing women’s perspectives to foreign policy.
“Let us take full advantage of the opportunities that we have to serve our countries to ensure that we advance world peace and stability, the empowerment as well as the progress of women and children,” she stated.
The European Union’s Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, in her concluding remarks said, a systematic effort by governments all over the world to empower women is the sure way to guarantee the advancement much needed in the world, particularly in the developing world. She added that “It is time for governments across the globe to roll out policies that would remove cultural barriers that undermine the efforts of women in the forward movement of the societies”.
Human Rights Watch, ahead of the summit, observed that sexual violence against women and girls as war crimes and crimes against humanity remain pervasive. Nearly every sexual assault described to Human Rights Watch by survivors involved a gang rape. But for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute sexual and gender-based crimes, the United Nations Security Council needs to refer the case to ICC. Human Rights Watch, therefore, urged the Foreign Ministers’ summit to call on the Council to do just that. The summit according to Farida Deif, Director of Human Rights Watch Canada, provided a crucial opportunity for Foreign Ministers to boldly reaffirm their governments’ commitment to justice and accountability for these grave crimes against women all over the world.
“The Foreign Ministers should call for greater support to the ICC and other accountability mechanisms. Holding abusers to account for their crimes will deter further atrocities, help create the conditions for durable peace, and ultimately advance the lives of women and girls around the world”.
Miss Deif, concluded, “Throughout history, women have often been excluded from conflict prevention and resolution efforts, even though the participation of women can lead to a more stable peace. This group of women Foreign Ministers have a platform and opportunity in Montreal today to rewrite this narrative”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Wilberforce Asare
