The Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Mohamed Hassan Kaisamba, has called for the full inclusion of women in peace-building and governance, urging West African nations to transcend tokenism and position women at the core of decision-making.
Speaking at the Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace Forum at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, High Commissioner Kaisamba challenged regional leaders to confront the persistent reality of exclusion. “Are we truly listening to the women at the heart of our nations? Are we investing in their ideas, resourcing their leadership and embedding their expertise in the frameworks of our peace and security,” he asked.
“Or are we still expecting them to endorse decisions made in rooms they were never invited to enter? Symbolism is insufficient, it always has been. We must go further!”
He advocated for peace frameworks that move beyond superficial inclusion, insisting that women be empowered as “architects, decision-makers and guardians of peace.”
High Commissioner Kaisamba also called for robust support for women-led grassroots organisations, emphasising their unparalleled expertise and proximity to community realities. “We must invest in women-led grassroots organisations that understand the terrain better than any external consultant ever could,” he urged.
He pressed regional governments to reform political systems to ensure not merely women’s presence but their authority. “Political systems must be transformed to create space not just for women’s participation, but also for their power,” he declared.
The High Commissioner also recalled poignant words from a woman he met during Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation process, words he said should guide the region’s peace-building efforts: “Peace will not come because we cry for it. It will come because we build it, with our hands, our words and our daughters”.
The 2025 Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace Forum, themed ‘Amplifying Women’s Voices in Democratic and Political Transitions’, convened political leaders, diplomats, civil society representatives and regional experts from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Australia.
The event was organised by the Australian High Commission in collaboration with the Embassy of Liberia in Ghana, the High Commission of Sierra Leone in Ghana, the West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP) and the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS).
