Welcome Remarks by H.E Mme Bineta Diop Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Women, Peace and Security During the  3^rd Africa Forum on Women Peace and Security

• Thank you, our moderator, Kezie Nwoha Helen, Executive Director, Women’s International Peace Centre for the floor.
• Your excellency  Sahle-Work Zewde, President of  the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
• Your excellency   Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa,  Deputy Chairperson  for the African Union Commission
• Your excellency  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and Patron of AWLN.
• Your excellency  Catherine Samba-Panza, Former President of Central African Republic and Co-Chair FemWise-Africa
• Your excellency  Dr. Joyce Hilda Banda, Former president of the Republic of Malawi and Member of the SADC Panel of Elders
• Your excellency  Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Former  Deputy President of South Africa; former Executive Director of UN Women and A Member of the AU Panel of the Wise
• Your excellency Amb. Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security  African Union
• Your excellency  Hanna  Tetteh, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa.
• H.E. Ambassador Kira Smith Sindbjerg,  Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to AUC
• Delegates from the Member States

Members of the Diplomatic core

Representatives from the civil society

Good morning !

I am pleased   to welcome you to the  third  Africa Forum on Women Peace and Security  that we have  convened  under the leadership of  H.E Sahle-Work Zewde, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, who is a distinguished diplomat, politician, peace builder and a true champion of the WPS. Thank you, madam president, for your time.

Indeed,  I feel very honored to be among my sisters and  distinguished leaders, former  female  presidents  and vice presidents of Africa.

Allow me to mention their names and to thank  each of them for their devotion towards promoting women’s leadership and protecting women’s rights towards the realization of the women peace and security agenda in Africa.

• Catherine Samba-Panza, Former President of Central African Republic and Co-Chair FemWise-Africa, thank you  for being here and for your leadership of the FemWise Africa.
• H.E Dr. Joyce Hilda Banda, Former president of the Republic of Malawi and Member of the SADC Panel of Elders, I thank you and congratulate you for leading on women’s economic empowerment including through inovative programmes and projects
• Your excellency  Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Former  Deputy President of South Africa; former Executive Director of UN Women and  Member of the AU Panel of the wise, thank you for your continued commitment to the gender agenda, not only in Africa but globally

Allow me to also recognize  my sisters, Her excellency H.E Hanna  Tetteh, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa and H.E. Ambassador Kira Smith Sindbjerg,  Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to AUC for their commitment in promoting peace in Africa and ensuring the voices of women are heard in these processes.

Distinguished participants, I  welcome you and thank you for finding time to travel out of your busy schedule to  participate in this  forum.

Excellencies, Ladies, and gentlemen,

In November  2020, we gathered virtually  for the first ever Africa forum on Women, Peace and Security, where we all agreed to institutionalize the forum by making it an annual event to provide us with a platform  where we gather  and review the  role and leadership of women in peace and security processes, and most importantly federate our efforts to accelerate the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security  Agenda in Africa.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For this third Forum on WPS, we have chosen to focus on  women’s participation and leadership  in peace  processes  in Africa.

Indeed, research has demonstrated that women’s leadership in peacebuilding increases the sustainability of peace efforts.

Women play an immeasurable role in preventing or de-escalating conflict, brokering local ceasefires, promoting cultures of peace and coexistence, and preventing recruitment of children as combatants. Yet the numbers show us that investment in women and girls—and willingness to ensure their involvement in peacebuilding efforts—is desperately low. 

Women represent a tiny segment of peace negotiators,  peace envoys, mediators, and peacekeepers.  For instance, in 2021,  only 19% of women participated in UN (co)-led  peace processes as negotiators or observers.

Yet,  prioritizing gender equality  and women’s leadership in peace building  and post-conflict reconstruction has  great benefits to the entire society.  For instance,

• An explicit, authoritative role for women in post-conflict economic revitalization brings faster and more equitable recovery.
• Humanitarian assistance focused on gender equality, further, conveys broad benefits with overall improvements in services for women, men, girls, and boys. 
• And above all,  according to UN Women study, women’s participation increases the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least two years by 20 percent, and by 35 percent the probability of a peace agreement lasting 15 years.

I hope in the next two days we will be able to deeply examine barriers facing women’s participation with a view to generate better strategies to bring more women into the peace table.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In addition,  the forum  will also examine the progress that the continent is making in the implementation of the women peace and security agenda.

I wish to highlight a few.

•  61% of our member states have adopted a national strategy to implement the women peace and security agenda. 64% of these are  reporting regularly using the  continental tool for monitoring and reporting on WPS, and we will hear more of the progress, gaps and recommendations for making the agenda more impactful.
• I am also happy to report that the Office of the Special Envoy, which was created in 2014, and which inspired the creation of such offices across the globe  is now institutionalized, this means the work we have been doing in the last eight years will be sustained and upscaled to impact the lives of girls and women of Africa.

And at this juncture, I want to thank the many partners who have consistently believed in our vision and provided technical and financial support in the running of the office. I wish to recognize, the governments of Denmark, USA, German, Norway, Ireland, Canada, Luxembourg together with our UN agencies including the UN Women, UNDP, UNOAU and  UNITAR. As the office upscales its efforts  I call upon your continued support.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I end my remarks, I wish to request we federate our actions to deliver transformation in the lives of women as per our aspirations in the various  instruments ( Maputo protocol, UNSCR,1325 and agenda 2063 among others). The discussions we will have for the next two days seek to look at how we progress women’s participation in peace process.

With these remarks, I wish to welcome you all to the forum and I look forward to fruitful discussions.

I thank you for your kind attention.