United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has advocated for the enhanced participation and leadership of women in conflict resolution and strategic decision-making across Africa’s Great Lakes region.
Mohammed said women were often left to deal with the consequences of conflicts while being excluded from the negotiations and agreements that shaped their aftermath.
“Men go to war. Women are left to hold together what war broke and accept agreements they had no hand in shaping,” she said.
She stressed that lasting peace in the Great Lakes region would remain difficult to achieve without women playing a central role in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and decision-making.
“There can be no lasting peace in the Great Lakes region without women at the table and at the heart of prevention and decision-making,” Mohammed said.
What You Should Know
The United Nations has made a renewed push for inclusive peace talks in Africa’s conflict-ridden Great Lakes region, arguing that women bear the brunt of violent unrest yet are routinely excluded from the negotiating tables where peace treaties are drafted.
- Positive Impacts: Incorporating women directly into regional diplomacy fosters more durable agreements, ensures community-level rehabilitation needs are prioritized, and empowers female leaders to actively shape post-conflict governance.
- Potential Challenges: Entrenched socio-political barriers and male-dominated diplomatic structures may delay the full integration of women into peace pacts, risking slow implementation of sustainable security initiatives.
