AU convenes a high-level regional Forum of Women of the Great Lakes Region

The Office of the AUC Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in collaboration with African Women Leaders Network, will convene a High-Level Forum to bring together women from the Great Lakes Region and the continent.

The forum was organized in recognition of the deterioration of the security situation in the Great Lakes region and its devastating effects on women and girls.

The Forum in Luanda – Angola from the 18- 19 October 2024 will mobilize ongoing support and solidarity for improving the situation of women and initiating a shift in approaches to peace, by incorporating women’s leadership and a gender perspective.

In a Communique issued by participants of the 4th African Forum on WPS, held on the 13th and 14th of December 2023, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the impact of ongoing continental conflicts was noted with concern, in terms of gender issues, and called for, among others, the strengthening and support of women’s peace networks and the adoption of a gender quota policy in all efforts to respond to conflicts led by the African Union.

The Forum will bring together various participants including Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR); current and former Heads of State and Government; Gender Ministers or their equivalents from ICGLR Member States; members of the African Women Leaders Network; FemWise Africa Members; Women, Peace and Security Advisory Board for the Great Lakes region and Child Protection Services Cadre Supervision Mechanism.

Regional Women’s Forum for the Great Lakes Region; East African Community (EAC); Southern African Development Society (SADC); Representatives of UN agencies; Heads of Diplomatic Missions and representatives of religious institutions and academics will also participate.

In August 2023, the African Union Commission Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security in collaboration with FemWise Africa, with support from the United Nations (UN), and in partnership with the women’s civil society organization in the DRC, led a high-level women’s peace advocacy mission in the DRC. The mission revealed the devastating effects of the conflict in Eastern DRC on women and girls, including mass displacement, sexual violence, loss of livelihoods and economic power, limited access to healthcare, education, food and other basic needs.

The delegation also maintained contacts with the Congolese authorities to address the alarming situation and consulted women affected by the conflict and organizations defending women’s rights, as well as conducted a field visit to a site for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North Kivu Province.

The mission produced several recommendations, including the need to convene a regional women’s forum to share experiences, strengthen regional solidarity with women affected by the conflict in the region and develop a common agenda for peace.