The Australian High Commission in Accra, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone High Commission and other partners, on Wednesday, 28th May 2025, held a Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace Forum, on the theme, Amplifying Women’s voices in Democratic and Political transitions.
In her speech, the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Bernice Owen-Jones, highlighted the importance of revolutionizing the peace-building plan, underscoring that peace must be made on justice and gender equality, which her Mission energetically keeps working on.
Making a statement at the Forum, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner, His Excellency Mohamed Hassan Kaisamba, called on all present to work together in building peace and in ensuring the next generation of African girls do not inherit silence but strength.
He commended the Australian High Commission for hosting what he described as a vital forum, and for choosing Ghana as the point for the forum, a nation whose democratic stability continues to be a pillar of hope and a blueprint for the entire African continent.
According to High Commissioner Kaisamba, women remain peacemakers in the shadows, as most times, although their courage never wears medals but they can move mountains.
He cited that, during the time of war in Sierra Leone, women stood at the forefront to rebuild our nation, which made them the architects of our peace.
“We must create regional peace frameworks that will place women not on the margins, but at the centre, as designers, decision-makers and defenders of peace”, he noted.
He concluded by recommending that women-led grassroots organizations should be financed and properly equipped for conflict prevention and the promotion of sustainable peace.
The Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Madam Manty Tarawalli, during a high-level panel discussion on the topic Amplifying Women’s voices in Democratic and Political transitions, applauded the initiative of the Australian High Commission of having such important discussions surrounding women and peacebuilding.
She said that for Sierra Leone, the political will has always been there, under the leadership of the President, HE. Julius Maada Bio, to ensure that women are supported and promoted, and that the support of everyone, including religious and traditional leaders, for the women of Sierra Leone, was a driving force behind the country’s enactment of the Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE). Madam Tarawalli went on to applaud the Sierra Leone Members of Parliament for their support during the passage of the bill into law.
Madam Tarawalli said the responsibility rests on everyone to continue to prioritize issues of women and that the support, especially from men, is very important.
Speaking at the Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace Forum at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, the Ghana Minister for the Interior, Hon. Muntaka Mohamed-Mubarak, called for increasing women’s voices in peace-building and democratic transitions.
