Recognizing the deterioration of the security situation in the Great Lakes region and its devastating effects on women and girls, and highlighting the need to strengthen women's participation and the integration of a gender perspective in ongoing regional peace processes, the Office of the AUC Special Envoy on WPS in collaboration with African Women Leaders Network, FemWise Africa, the AU Peace and Security Programme, under the leadership of H.
The Forum in Luanda β Angola from the 19 October will mobilize ongoing support and solidarity for improving the situation of women and initiating a shift in approaches to peace, by incorporating women's leadership and a gender perspective. The Forum will apply participatory, interactive and learning approaches, including high-level opening and closing sessions, panel sessions with facilitators, plenary debates and group work sessions. The mission revealed the devastating effects of the conflict in Eastern DRC on women and girls, including mass displacement, sexual violence, loss of livelihoods and economic power, limited access to healthcare, education, food and other basic needs.
The delegation also maintained contacts with the Congolese authorities to address the alarming situation and consulted women affected by the conflict and organizations defending women's rights, as well as conducted a field visit to a site for Internally Displaced Persons IDPs in North Kivu Province.
In a Communique issued by participants of the 4th African Forum on WPS, held on the 13th and 14th of December , in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the impact of ongoing continental conflicts was noted with concern, in terms of gender issues, and called for, among others, the strengthening and support of women's peace networks and the adoption of a gender quota policy in all efforts to respond to conflicts led by the African Union.
In March , the African Union Peace and Security Council held a high-level ministerial seminar in Swakopmund, Namibia, which adopted the Swakopmund process, a mechanism to strengthen and monitor women's participation in peace processes, especially, in track one processes.
