Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Experts: Women Make Peacekeeping Missions More Effective

Stacey Knott

   ACCRA, GHANA - Women, peace and security are on the agenda at a
   military conference in Ghana this week, where experts say deploying
   women into peacekeeping forces will make missions more effective and
   make civilian women feel safer in reporting abuses.

   Vida Nyekanga, a warrant officer in Ghana's military, has been deployed
   for peacekeeping missions across Africa and in Lebanon. Being a woman,
   she says, gives her certain access to people and information her male
   counterparts might not have.

   Women felt more comfortable speaking to other women, she found,
   especially when they took part in their daily activities.

   "When we see the local women cooking, we try to join them to do the
   cooking," Nyekanga said. "In the farms, we go to help them, and in the
   medical outreach we try to interact with them and we see them coming
   close, so through that we get vital information from them."

.