It has become a widely accepted consensus that women should take part in conflict resolution processes. The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) provided advocates for female political participation and leadership with an international declaration that reaffirmed the call for more women at the table. That table includes national governments, regional and continental organisations, high-level representatives and envoys, mediation teams and conflict prevention units. While many will argue that the fight for gender equality has still a very long way to go, there have been some meaningful steps, declarations, initiatives and projects promoting the representation of women in decision-making and conflict management. One of those initiatives is the African Union (AU) Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (FemWise-Africa).
Basing itself on the UNSCR 1325, but also on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Protocol on the Charter of Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), the steering committee of FemWise-Africa was launched and approved by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2017. The network offers a platform for capacity building, strategic advocacy, and most prominently to promote the inclusion of women in mediation. It has grown quickly, with accredited members from a wide range of societal backgrounds.
The network is unique in its institutional anchoring at the AU. As a subsidiary mechanism to one of the pillars of the African Peace and Security Architecture, the AU Panel of the Wise, it has a mandate in conflict prevention and enjoys the authority and clout of the five sitting members of the AU Panel of the Wise. The two women on the current panel, Lady Justice Effie Owuor and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, are the co-chairs of the network and represent not only the AU Panel of the Wise, but also FemWise-Africa when they engage in a pre-election assessment mission or in mediation processes.
The network is supported by a secretariat hosted at the AU Mediation and Dialogue Division, under the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS). Coordinators within that division communicate with the members of the network, share employment and training opportunities, and support network deployees. FemWise-Africa members are and have been deployed on election observation missions, as well as to AU liaison offices, serving in roles such as a military and security officer in Sudan or as a mediation and advocacy officer in South Sudan.
Demonstrating a potential to learn from its young history and adapt its strategy, FemWise-Africa is finetuning its activities.
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In August 2023 the AU Panel of the Wise adopted a decentralisation framework for FemWise-Africa, paving the way for the creation of regional and national chapters of the network in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and in member states. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) have founded their own networks of women mediators, FemWise-ECOWAS and ECCAS-REFEMAC. On the national level, Femwise-Uganda, FemWise-Malawi, FemWise-Ethiopia and FemWise-South Sudan have been created in collaboration with local ministries, allowing national members to connect and engage with local conflict resolution initiatives.
In the edition of the 28 May 2024 of the ACCORD Conflict & Resilience Monitor, Graça Machel, first Minister of Education of Mozambique and among many things a founding FemWise-Africa member, made another case for the inclusion of women at negotiation tables. FemWise-Africa is a continental tool that paves the way for more women to conflict resolution processes. Created in a bid to demonstrate that there are numerous women with the skills, the training and the authority to lead mediation processes, the target set at the network’s first general assembly on 13 December 2017, in Constantine, Algeria, was the accreditation of 500 members. Today, that mode of operation is being reconsidered and FemWise-Africa is undergoing a restructuring process.
Demonstrating a potential to learn from its young history and adapt its strategy, FemWise-Africa is finetuning its activities. Using the potential of its broad membership, the above mentioned institutionalisation of national chapters represents an opportunity to capitalise on the diverse expertise and experiences of local FemWise-Africa members, giving them access to national government structures which represent a stepping stone towards high-level mediation panels.
At the same time, a second cohort of FemWise-Africa members bringing the leadership, political authority and experience to lead a high-level mediation is being conceptualised – taking on the primary goal to bring women to high-level mediation processes so they can be a channel for the needs and interests of women in a mediation process. The network continues to use its flexible mandate and institutional anchoring within APSA to advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda across different tracks, in collaboration with the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, the African Women Leader’s Network, the AU Commission’s Women, Gender and Youth Directorate and the Gender, Peace and Security Programme of the AU PAPS.
Considering the vast range of activities and the hundreds of women trained in conflict prevention, as well as gender-specific aspects of the work in peace and security, the network does not get an appropriate amount of attention for its operations.
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Considering the vast range of activities and the hundreds of women trained in conflict prevention, as well as gender-specific aspects of the work in peace and security, the network does not get an appropriate amount of attention for its operations. There is a lot to learn from the small, experienced team at the secretariat who manages the network from the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, coordinating FemWise deployments, advocating for the creation of women’s networks within the governments of member states and adapting their activities to the political realities, mode of operation and the current reforms of the African Union.
FemWise-Africa remains a unique institutional tool that showcases the expertise and experiences of African women. Members of the network can use their training and the authority of being a member of an AU network to train young women in their communities in mediation and conflict prevention. They can build on contacts fostered during the annual general assembly, learn from inspiring mentors and get insights into high-level processes at the AU. The great potential of the network, inviting women from all over the continent to the AU will hopefully be maintained in the current restructuring process in order to foster an intersectional approach and invite new actors and perspectives into the political arena of mediation.
Networks are a key component of political activities. Mentorship and community are crucial for women to empower themselves, share resources, and step by step, through the power of collectives, get a seat at the table.
Camille Vern is a Research Fellow and PhD candidate at the joint competence network African Non-military Conflict Intervention Practices, at Leipzig University.
