The Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has organised a matriculation ceremony for the eighth batch of its Master of Arts (MA) in Gender, Peace and Security Programme.

The ceremony attended by staff and the faculty of academic affairs and research was held to give the new students a tour of the institution and an opportunity to meet members of the faculty before the commencement of academic work.

A statement from the KAIPTC to the Ghana News Agency disclosed that 51 students were admitted to the MA programme, bringing the current population of post-graduate students to almost 250.

Professor Kwaku Osei-Hwedie, the Dean of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, welcomed the new students and highlighted the key objectives of the course, the statement said.

The statement quoted Prof Osei-Hwedie as saying: “The programme seeks, among other key objectives, to equip students with the skills and competences needed to achieve the highest professional standards and expertise in issues around Gender, Peace and Security; Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Management; Peace Brokering and Security Management.”

He disclosed that some of the achievements of the Centre were stipulated in the Centre’s academic journal and its significant rankings on the Global Go-To Think Thank Ranking.

“KAIPTC became the first ECOWAS Training Centre of Excellence to publish an academic Journal, which goes by the name, the Journal of African Peace and Security. This scholarly journal is dedicated to deepening knowledge and understanding of issues around African peace and security, while strengthening the policy relevance of research on the continent”, he added.

Prof Osei-Hwedie, according to the statement, said the Centre also continued to feature significantly on the Global Go-To Think Tank Ranking, which was produced annually by the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, which ranked the world’s leading think tanks in a variety of categories.

KAIPTC was the first institution Peacekeeping Training Centre in Africa to deliver post-graduate programmes and driven by the vision to be the preferred international Centre for education and cutting-edge research in gender, conflict, peace and security on the African continent and beyond.

The Master of Arts in Gender, Peace and Security programme which has been running since 2012, has graduated over 200 students from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Burundi, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Benin, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Rwanda, Mali, Kenya, and DR Congo. The post-graduate programmes have an alumni of over 500 students.