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Taking Gender Seriously: African Union and the WPS Agenda

Bulbul Prakash
Ms Bulbul Prakash is Research Intern at Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and UN Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. read more
Commentary

The Women, Peace, and Security agenda (WPS) was a landmark stride made by the United Nations Security Council in October 2000 by adopting Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325).1 Resolution 1325 calls on nations to consider the impacts women and girls face in conflicts, to promote female peacekeeping, allow gender-based discussions at all platforms, prioritising female decision-making over institutional norms relating to women, and to promote female participation in peace building and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. Additionally, the UN Security Council recommended that all members create National Action Plans (NAPs) to carry out the resolutions’ four pillars: Participation, Protection, Prevention, and Relief and Recovery. They are also aimed to partner with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) that advocate for women’s rights.

The origins of the WPS agenda may be attributed directly to the African continent, where civil wars and conflicts aimed at exploiting women fuelled support for the current international instruments on Women, Peace, and Security. The roots of the resolution may be traced back to when Namibia was president of the Security Council and South Africa’s co-sponsorship to subsequent UNSCR 1820.  Africa also leads in WPS missions, with ten peacekeeping operations already operating under UN auspices, nine of which are joint AU/UN missions and one entirely led by the African Union (AU).2 The AU has exhibited a greater commitment to implementing UNSCR 1325 by incorporating the resolution’s principles into its policy frameworks and processes. Almost half of African Union member states have developed National Action Plans (NAP) along with regional action plans to execute the WPS agenda.

On June 15, 2022, the Security Council held an open debate on the role of regional organisations in implementing the WPS Agenda in contexts of political turmoil and seizures of power by force.3 The Secretary-General highlighted the UN’s involvement with the AU and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on development through a trilateral framework to lead the political process back to an agreed and legitimate constitutional order. When the intra-Sudanese negotiations began, all three envoys urged each delegation to guarantee that at least 40% of the participants were women.4 The implementation of UNSCR 13255 in Africa can be said to have achieved significant progress through the action of its member states, the African Union, and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Liberia has seen Christian and Muslim women forming human barriers after the civil war, blocking the warring parties until a peace agreement has been achieved.6 However, despite the Secretary-General’s appreciation for the AU’s role in urging member states to adopt NAPs by 2020, much of the implementation process has been problematic. The adoption of 1325 remains a number in many member states.

AU and WPS Agenda

The African Union has adopted gender policies in several of its organs and established a number of Women, Peace, and Security networks throughout the continent to enable information exchange and empower women civil society organisations working with governments. In 2015, it introduced a vision document called ‘Agenda 2063’7 at its 24th  ordinary assembly meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The agenda is significant since it will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its precursor, the Organization of African Union (OAU), in 2063. More specifically, aspiration 6 of the Agenda 2063 reads: “An Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children”.8         

The agenda served as fuel to keep the mandate on women, peace, and security going. The WPS agenda is also effectively supplemented by the ‘FemWise-Africa’ network of African women that works towards conflict mediation and prevention.9 Promoting human rights against sexual and gender-based violence was one of the group’s primary goals, as was encouraging active female engagement in conflict prevention, mediation, and peace-making initiatives. The African Union also surpasses most developed countries in terms of political representation of women. Burundi has 38.2 per cent female parliamentarians in the lower house (National Assembly) and 41 per cent in the upper house (Senate).10 Women comprised fewer than 15 per cent of parliamentarians in Liberia, Madagascar, and Ghana. However, political representation alone cannot meet the WPS agenda’s objectives. 

While the Union was praised for its attempts to stop Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), the pillars of prevention, relief, and recovery were not addressed. Women and girl soldiers’ responsibilities have not been examined, and their needs and interests during reintegration are frequently overlooked. Women are employed in peacekeeping and monitoring SGBV, expecting to serve as role models for local communities, ignoring the fact that both men and women have an equal part in protecting all of its citizens. When it comes to female combat positions, recruiters and commanders often consider safety and cultural problems when deciding whether or not to deploy women. For example, the Nigerian army has decided not to employ women as military chiefs as the northern Muslim leaders do not want women ‘to give orders to men someday’.11 In the seven active peacekeeping operations in Africa, women make up less than four per cent of military personnel.12 Women’s exclusion from mediation and peace procedures has led to a lack of gender-sensitive peace accords. Peace processes do not employ gender analysis, and hence fail to capture and include women’s experiences in the design of peace processes and peace accords. As a result, they are applauded for feminising their work and, thus, watering down the WPS objectives.

A focus should be placed on fostering peace and how gender equality and the importance of femininity are frequently undercut. Women’s conscription without addressing problems of gender and sexuality will continue the same masculinist ethos and marginalisation of women. The continuing dependence on military and militarised systems inadvertently recreates versions of militarised masculinities. Women are not brought to the table if there is no conflict. They are involved in dynamics that end up recreating authoritarian patriarchal militaristic post-conflict societies. It is high time for the AU and those in charge of carrying out the WPS agenda to think more critically about present practices for fostering peace and security.

Challenges with NAPs and way forward

Twenty-two years after the passing of UNSCR resolution 1325, only 104 countries have adopted National Action Plans (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).13 As of the year 2022, Africa has 35 NAPs.14 This makes the continent a global leader in the adoption of NAPs.  Most NAPs, however, are unable to achieve “meaningful local ownership” of Resolution 1325 since they are built on a bureaucratic approach to peacebuilding, often reflecting a certain normative agenda for what a post-conflict state should be.

In 2018, the African Union Commission (AUC) launched the Continental Results Framework (CRF) for Monitoring and Reporting on the WPS Agenda in Africa.15 Through various instruments, including UNSCR 1325 and the Maputo Protocol, the Commission and Member States have committed to implementing WPS, and the framework offers a policy for monitoring that progress. Despite its existence, however, the framework’s awareness and reporting by civil society organisations (CSOs) remains low.

The agenda has been narrowed to focus on the inclusion of women in peace and security institutions and procedures without a deeper consideration of what their participation may signify for legitimising post-conflict patriarchal and militaristic norms. The delayed implementation of the National Action Plans, caused by issues with funding and monitoring is also a major concern. When funding comes from member states, it may be more sustainable. There is another issue involved with the lack of attention placed on the intersecting needs of groups such as women with gender, and women with girls (children).  Most of the regional action plans, or NAPs, are also not translated into the local languages, which prevents the women from interpreting the policies written for them.  The action plan also needs to consider local histories of peace-making on the African continent. Although member states and regional organisations in Africa have enacted gender plans and policies, there are not any apparent connections between them and the WPS agenda. There are evident areas of uncertainty and conflict resulting from differing and opposing understandings of what the WPS agenda means for women in Africa, much alone how it should be implemented. The role of African women in conflict prevention and conflict management at the grassroots levels are also largely discarded. The grassroots women’s organisations are under pressure from state governments, who label them anti-government if they do not go through a laborious official registration process and are frequently excluded from formal/state-organized peace processes.16

Hence, though the African Union has made significant achievements with gender related policies, national and regional action plans, and establishing numerous WPS networks across the continent, the progress is still gradual. The lack of coordination between government and civil society has reduced the NAPs to move forward. The AU should start incorporating women candidates in their mediation selection processes and be decisive in appointing those women as envoys. Including women, as a key for parity, is not the end goal: transforming gender relations and creating peace and security for all is what is being sought.

*Ms. Bulbul Prakash is a Research Intern at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi.

Keywords: Africa
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