Opportunities and prospects for women's participation in promoting a culture of peace in West Africa and the Sahel

Given the many challenges facing West Africa and the Sahel region in particular, security is undoubtedly the most pressing. It therefore seems necessary to engage the various categories of the population in order to play a role in promoting and consolidating peace. In this respect, women and young people in particular represent an important category, and their participation and inclusion is no longer a simple option, but a strategic priority that the countries of the region must now integrate into their programmes, and more particularly into their agendas for promoting peace and security.

In a statement issued by its Presidency on Wednesday 3 February 2021, the UN Security Council stressed the importance of the role of women in West Africa and the Sahel in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, with its members emphasising that women ‘must participate on an equal footing in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security and be fully and meaningfully involved’. Women are at the heart of efforts to achieve sustainable peace through inclusion, justice and security.

At global and regional level, various frameworks and mechanisms have been put in place to support and strengthen the participation and role of women in peace processes. This notion is explicit in Agenda 2000, established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. This agenda urged all actors to increase the participation of women and to integrate gender perspectives into UN peace and security efforts, and called for the empowerment and inclusion of women in conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building. In Africa, to promote the protection of women's rights, ensure gender mainstreaming and the equal participation of women in peace processes, several policies, frameworks and mechanisms exist within the African Union: from its Framework Policy on Security Sector Reform to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), via the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (2004), the Solemn Declaration on a Common African Defence and Security Policy (2004), the Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Policy (2006), the AU Gender Policy (2009).

Unfortunately, ownership and practical implementation of these policies at Member State level are problematic and vary from one State to another. Despite timid efforts here and there, women often remain marginalised and largely excluded from decision-making bodies in peace processes.

In this year 2024, which marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, which recognises that peace ‘is not simply the absence of conflict, but a positive, dynamic and participatory process that fosters dialogue and conflict resolution in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation’, it is important to analyse the contours of this debate, which is increasingly topical for the better involvement and integration of women, participatory process that promotes dialogue and conflict resolution in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation’, it is important to analyse the contours of this debate, which is increasingly topical, to ensure that women are better involved and integrated at all levels in peace processes for a more stable and secure region.

The conference was led by Dr. Saran Daraba KABA, President of the Mano River Union Women's Network for Peace (Guinea-Conakry), Ms Aminata Wallet AZAROCK, President of the Association for Development and Peace in Mali (Mali), Ms Aminata Kansaye CISSE, Gender Focal Point at the African Union Mission for Mali and the Sahel (Mali), Ms Diago Diagne NDIAYE, Regional President of the ECOWAS Women's Peace and Security Network (Senegal), provided an opportunity to analyse the contours of the debate on better involvement and integration of women at all levels in peace processes for a more stable and secure Sahel region.

The discussions, moderated by Ms Diyé BA, Coordinator of the G-5 Sahel Regional Women's Platform (Mauritania), focused on the following points :

1. What is the status of women's participation in peace processes in West Africa and the Sahel ?
2. What can be the added value of greater participation by women in conflict prevention and the culture of peace in the region ?
3. How can the role of women and their inclusion in peace processes be strengthened at both regional and national level ?
4. What are the prospects for joint advocacy plans for peace at national and regional level ?

The discussions were unanimous on a number of points :

• Resolution 1325 recognises the important role played by women in the economic, political and social spheres. In this sense, this resolution is a formidable mechanism which, even if it is applied differently in different countries, deserves to be promoted. Unfortunately, it faces challenges in its implementation.
• There is a need to empower women economically in order to strengthen their participation in peace processes.
• The added value of women's participation is perceptible because they raise the real issues of society and respond to the needs of populations through innovative approaches and pragmatic solutions. They have a better understanding of local and community dynamics, which makes them credible mediators and peacemakers, so much so that in some countries they are called ‘peacemakers’. One example of this is the role played by the women's network as moral guarantor of the inter-Liberian peace agreement.
• Create synergies to enable women to play their full role at all levels.
• Weak participation by women despite the wealth of texts promoting their involvement and participation, dating back to the Mandé Charter of 1215.
• Support local women's organisations through training to strengthen their capacities and know-how, create regional and international women's networks and set up mentoring and internship programmes to develop their negotiation and institutional management skills in order to raise women's aspirations in this field.
• In the current regional context, new challenges need to be taken into account: climate change, irregular and regular migration, among others.
• Low representation of women in peace negotiations. According to UN Women, women account for less than 10% of peace negotiators worldwide and only 3% of those who sign peace agreements. Nevertheless, many local initiatives are underway. Women are working on the ground for community peace despite numerous obstacles (discrimination, capacity building, lack of resources to effectively influence peace processes). Added to this are patriarchal norms, which represent an additional challenge facing women in their commitment to peace.
• A number of initiatives have been undertaken between international partners and local women actors, but such initiatives are not harmonised and synchronised, or even compete with each other, depending on the different agendas of the international partners. This makes them counter-productive.

In terms of future prospects, it was recommended that all the initiatives of women's organisations active in the field of peace and security should be pooled at national, sub-regional and continental level. This implies capitalising on the achievements and all the initiatives by including people living with disabilities. To achieve this, we need to work with the media to publicise, raise awareness, denounce and reach women in the most remote localities and outlying areas. This has the advantage of getting closer to the grassroots and avoiding the trap of elitism.