This archive report was first published on 20 May 2020.
As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, women in the Great Lakes region are worried that their hard-won gains in peace processes may be lost. The 12th session of the Advisory Board for Women, Peace and Security in the Great Lakes region, held via videoconference on May 12, 2020, highlighted the growing concern.
Participants, including co-presidents of FemWise-Africa, Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe and former president of the Central African Republic, Catherine Samba Panza, emphasized the need for women's active participation in peace processes. FemWise-Africa, a network of African women in conflict prevention and mediation, was established in July 2017 to help implement the African Union's Silence the Guns by 2020 agenda.
Dr. Kazibwe called for the deployment of FemWise-Africa members in various capacities, including pre-election missions and conflict prevention activities. However, UN Special Envoy in the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, warned that the gains made in implementing National Action Plans for Women's Political Participation in the region are fragile and reversible, especially in the face of the pandemic.
The meeting aimed to promote women's protection and participation in upcoming electoral processes in the Great Lakes region, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. Adopted in 2000, the resolution recognized the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and acknowledged the importance of women's equal participation in maintaining international peace and security.
