ACCORD, SADC and UN Women convened a two-day meeting at the ACCORD house in Durban, South Africa on 12 and 13 September 2023. The hybrid setting also brought together representatives from the SADC Secretariat, ACCORD, and UN Women, who joined the meeting remotely to reflect on the progress across the region, on gender equality and the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. The platform also allowed for discussions on the challenges to the advancement of the WPS Agenda, the good practices learnt from the member states, and future collaborative opportunities, both short term and long term, that the partners can leverage on how to advance the Agenda. Ways in which to enhance the capacities of the member states to embrace more inclusive approaches to conflict resolution at all levels also formed part of the discussions.
On review, the WPS Agenda has been championed for two decades on the African continent and is now entering the third decade, which is still met with limited progress evidenced by the exclusion of women at the mediation table and in key decision-making processes in some countries. As such, much effort is required from partners to add to the statistics and aid the processes to be more inclusive and meaningful.
Following an exploratory discussion on the emerging trends, as well as how conflicts are unfolding on the continent, the partners agreed that conflict continues to manifest at, inter-state, local and national level. From this, the question that remains “Where is the WPS agenda located within these contexts and the opportunities to transform gender relations in it?”. The vision for women’s meaningful and effective participation in peace processes remains unfinished business within the agenda, and is still a mission worth the pursuit. It was therefore highlighted that the SADC region makes the time to reflect on how it can play a more meaningful role in advancing the agenda, alongside civil society organisations like ACCORD, other NGOs, and UN Women.
Given the reflections and experience sharing, partners renewed their commitment to foster positive collaborations across the region to enable the implementation of the WPS Agenda through the establishment of the SADC Women Mediator’s Network, adoption of the National Action Plan on WPS by the member states, and to promote peer-to-peer learning. The partners also discussed the long-term and the short-term plans for the region that involve consultations and capacity building efforts through a multi-stakeholder approach.
ACCORD, UN Women and SADC will continue its engagement to support the implementation of efforts to advance the WPS Agenda in the SADC Region.
