Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) at its 1109th meeting held on 3 October 2022 on the Commemoration of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security Update:

The Peace and Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the ideals of the landmark United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325) on Women, Peace and Security adopted on 31 October 2000, and its implementation;

Recalling its decisions and pronouncements on Women, Peace and Security in Africa and related themes, particularly Communiques [PSC/MIN/COMM.1063 (2022)] adopted at its 1063rd meeting held at the Ministerial level on 8 February 2022, PSC/MIN/COMM.(CMLXXXVII) adopted at its 987th meeting held at the Ministerial level on 22 March 2021; and Press Statements [PSC/PR/BR.(CMLI)] adopted at its 951st meeting held on 5 October 2020, [PSC/PR/BR.(DCCCLXXXVII)] adopted at its 887th meeting held on 17 October 2019;

Further recalling the provisions and principles of article 4(l) of the AU Constitutive Act, Aspirations 3, 4 and 6 of the Agenda 2063, the Protocol of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted in Maputo in 2003, the 2015 Gender Peace and Security Programme (GPSP), and the Doctrine on AU Peace Support Operations adopted by the 3rd Extraordinary Specialized Technical Committee on Defence Safety and Security in January 2021, as well as the AU Strategy for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment 2018-2028, amongst others, which have put forth gender equality and gender mainstreaming explicitly as normative and policy imperatives, especially in peace and security structures and processes;

Faithful to the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality [Assembly/AU/Decl.12(III) Rev.1] adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Union at their third Ordinary Session of the Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held on 6-8 July 2004;

Noting the opening statement made by H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Arrouchi, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for October 2022, and H.E. Ambassador Adeoye Bankole, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security;

Taking note of the statements made by H.E. Mme. Bineta Diop, Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Women, Peace and Security; H.E. Mme. Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;

H.E. Mme.Awa Ndiaye Seck, UN Women Special Representative to the AU Commission and United Nations Economic Commission (ECA); and H.E. Ambassador Farida Jaidi, Coordinator of the Moroccan Network of Women Mediators; and further taking note of the statements by the representatives of the European Union Delegation to the AU and League of Arab States Delegation to the AU; and

Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:

1. Recognizes the critical role of women in the promotion of peace, security and stability and development in Africa; and reiterates its call to ensure effective and meaningful participation of women in peace processes, including in early warning and conflict prevention, mediation and dialogue to promote women, peace and Security agenda on the Continent;

2. Underlines the imperative of peace agreements to include gender provisions to address women’s security in conflict and crisis situations;

3. Notes with concern the existing gaps in the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and in this regard, encourages the Member States to redouble their efforts in ensuring its domestication at national and regional levels, and its full implementation thereof;

4. Emphasizes the need to evaluate the achievements made in the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325) on WPS in order to address the identified challenges and map the way forward;

5. Commends the Member States which have adopted the National Action Plans (NAPs) on WPS and urges them to submit their reports to the Commission, encourages Member States who are yet to adopt the NAP to redouble efforts and enact NAP in their countries to advance the WPS agenda; and also encourages Member States and partners to provide technical and financial support to accelerate the implementation of these NAPs;

6. Condemns, in the strongest terms, all forms of violence against women during conflicts and other situations, impeding women from enjoying their fundamental human rights; calls for protection of women and girls against sexual and gender-based violence, particularly in conflict and crisis situations and refugee camps, and further calls for all perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence in gross violation of international laws to face the full might of the law and brought to justice;

7. Underscores the need to ensure justice and accountability to prevent sexual violence and all forms of abuses against women, including forced marriages and calls for zero tolerance for sexual and gender-based violence;

8. Applauds the Chairperson of the AU Commission for institutionalizing the office of the Special Envoy on WPS and reiterates its call to the AU Commission to avail the requisite technical and financial support to enable the office to enhance further its efforts in coordinating the work of women across the Continent;

9. Commends the progress made in including issues and policies on women, peace and security in AU Peace Support Operations, which addresses the issues of sexual and gender-based violence;

10. Highlights the link between climate change, COVID-19, conflicts and sexual and gender-based violence and its impact on women in Africa;

11. Calls for further expansion of space for the engagement of women, civil society organization, including in AU Platforms on peace, humanitarian and development nexus in the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325) on WPS;

12. Encourages the Member States and all other organizations and institutions which are yet to do so to put in place a quota system to promote gender parity;

13. Stresses the need to ensure that girls and women have full access to education and decision-making processes; underscores the importance of educating boy children and socializing them from a young age to respect girls and women;

14. Emphasizes the involvement of stakeholders, including men, traditional and faith leaders, in initiatives to dismantle harmful cultural and social norms and advance women’s role in peace processes in Africa;

15. Emphasizes the importance of adopting policies and laws to protect children borne out of sexual violence and women and girls living with or affected by HIV-AIDS, particularly in conflict and crisis situations;

16. Welcomes the launch of the Men’s conference on Positive Masculinity and adoption of the Kinshasa Declaration, amongst others, as initiatives to prevent and respond to sexual violence; congratulates H.E. Felix Tshisekedi for his appointment as the Champion for Positive Masculinity;

17. Also welcomes the launch of the Framework for Prevention of Conflict-elated Sexual Violence in New York on the margins of the 77th United Nations General Assembly on 22 September 2022; requests the AU Commission to launch an awareness campaign at the highest level to get national and regional commitments;

18. Requests the AU Special on WPS, working closely with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, to establish a forum for knowledge sharing amongst the AU Member States and partners to leverage experience, lessons learnt and good practices in addressing sexual violence against women in conflicts and crises;

19. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

COMMENTS