Afi Azaratu Yabuku
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed Afi Azaratu Yabuku as the Executive Secretary of the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Mrs Afi Yakubu replaced the immediate past Executive Secretary Jones B. Applerh and started work on April 28.
According to a statement by the Commission and signed by the Board Chairman, Rev Prof. Paul Frempong-Manso, “The Board of the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Afi Azaratu Yakubu by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President of the Republic of Ghana as the new Executive Secretary of the Commission effective Thursday April 28th 2022.
“Mrs Afi Yakubu replaced the immediate past Executive Secretary Mr Jones B Applerh,”
Ms. Afi Yakubu was the immediate past Executive Director of the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) and once the Secretary for the West Africa Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA). She has over twenty years of experience in conflict prevention, peace building and advocacy for security and development in Africa.
Ms Afi Yakubu holds an Executive MA in Organisation and Systems Development from the Gestalt Centre for Organisational Development, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, an MA in Television for Development (Development Communication), University of Southampton, UK, a Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies, University of Ghana and a Certificate of participation on a Topical Seminar: The Security Challenge of Small Arms and Light Weapons Proliferation in Africa, from the Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, Washington, USA.
Madam Afi Yakubu has a proven track record in communication and advocacy for peace and security, especially conflict management, both locally and internationally.
She has a good understanding of grassroots conflict dynamics and security threats, gender mainstreaming, and is excellent at maintaining partnerships and empowerment of women and the youth.
She is a proficient cross-cultural mobiliser. She has led several national and international advocacy campaigns and citizen engagement for policy and social change including those by ECOWAS, AU and the United Nations.
She was once a Trainer of youth groups on Alternative Paths to Peace in the Niger Delta for the Women’s Centre for Peace and Development (WOPED) in Nigeria and a Trainer on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) in South Sudan for the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC). She trained traditional rulers of the Northern Region on Small Arms and Conflicts in Northern Ghana for the Northern Regional House of Chiefs in 2007.
Ms. Yakubu was a Board Member of the Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (2006 to 2008), a Founding Member of the West Africa Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA), a Member of the National Election Early Warning Working Group under the National Peace Council in 2016 and a Member of Women Situation Room – Ghana (WSR Ghana) established to mitigate conflict before, during and after the 2016 general elections of Ghana. She was a Member of the Drafting Team of the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on WOMEN, PEACE & SECURITY (GHANAP 1 and GHANAP 2) in 2012 and 2019 respectively.
Ms. Afi Yakubu has researched and authored numerous articles on a variety of development-related issues including: gender and development, peace and security, social mobilisation with support from the Ghana Government as well as International Development Co-operations. She was the Producer and Editor of: “Focus on Small Arms in West Africa”; a quarterly newsletter of the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) since 2001.
She edited the book: “Introduction to Small Arms” by Napoleon Abdulai in 2005. Some of her research work include “Communicating Difference Between and Among People in Conflict”; an MA Research, University of Southampton, England 1997 which was unpublished.
Ms. Afi Yakubu is a recipient of numerous awards. Some of the awards received include:
Martin Luther King Peace and Social Justice Award, Embassy of USA, Ghana, 2013 Rolf Edberg Award on Peace and the Environment, 2006, Dagbon Personality of the Year in recognition of her work in conflict prevention and peace-building in Northern Ghana, 2005.
She is married to Napoleon Abdulai, Ghana’s Ambassador to Mali.
By Vincent Kubi