The Implications of United Nations Peacekeeping for Gender Roles and Institutional Cultures in the Ghana Armed Forces

Abstract

The study examined the influences of UN peacekeeping on changes in women’s roles and the gendered cultures of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). In line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and UN Gender Parity Strategy (2018-2028), peacekeeping militaries are required to increase the number of women to peacekeeping and also deploy them into leadership and combat positions. Hence, the study focuses on how experiences acquired by personnel from peacekeeping are returned home to interact with Ghanaian societal rationalities on gender to effect changes in the military. Alternatively, how does the nexus between UN peacekeeping gender equality norms and Ghanaian societal context provide incentives for changes in women’s roles and status in GAF? Hence, the central research question of the study is: to what extent does personnel’s UN peacekeeping experiences influence the Ghana Armed Forces’ domestic policies and rationalities on women’s integration and the gendered cultures in the military? The study is situated within the feminist new institutionalist theoretical perspective, to analyse both the military and UN peacekeeping contexts as masculine gendered institutions. From a gendered institutions perspective, the analytical focus shifted from individual personalities to the Ghanaian patriarchal socio-political milieu and UN peacekeeping institutional contexts to draw out the masculine and feminine gendered implications of military regulations, practices, codes of conduct and the distribution of power resources in miliary structures within which personnel’s activities are embedded. For the methodology, the study was situated within the constructivist and interpretivist perspectives embedded in qualitative case study research. Hence, 60 research participants made up of 35 male and 25 female officers and soldiers with UN peacekeeping experiences were purposively selected with a partial tilt for Army personnel. This is because, the core personnel and the battalions that are deployed by GAF to UN peacekeeping missions are drawn from the Army with co-opted personnel from the Navy and the Air-Force. Using semi structured and open-ended questions as data collection instruments, in-depth interviews and focused group discussions were conducted to collect primary data in selected battalions and tri service units in GAF. This was augmented with detailed analysis and discussions of relevant published documents to examine areas that included: women’s integration and changes in gender roles, personnel training and avenues for career progression, women’s appointment into leadership ranks and command positions, and changes in gendered discourses among personnel in GAF. Findings from the study shows that, although, the military remain fundamentally masculine in terms of the high numerical representation of men, due to UN peacekeeping personnel requirements, GAF is implementing a gender mainstreaming agenda leading to incremental changes in the gendered cultures and enhanced status of women in GAF. The appointment of female officers into the General’s rank category and leadership positions in peacekeeping missions is contributing to the improved status of women in GAF. With the appointment of the first female Brigadier General in 2016, as of 2023, GAF has produced five female Brigadier Generals of which three have served as Deputy Force Commanders in UN peacekeeping missions. Additionally, GAF has appointed female officers into commanding officer (CO) position with five of these COs being appointed between 2022 and 2023. Infantry battalions and other combat units which used to be the preserved of men have since 2018, been opened up to women. Additionally, the occupational roles of female personnel have expanded with the removal of restrictions which allow female personnel to undertake combat related career progression courses. Hence, a promotion of a culture of gender sensitivity both in formal discourses of military leaders and informal interactions among personnel is ongoing which acknowledges the presence of women and their integration in GAF.