“High Level Panel on Women, Peace and Security” (12 June 2015)

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June 11, 2015

What: High Level Panel on Women, Peace and Security (WPS)

When: 12 June 2015

Who: The Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC)

Where: Sandton Conviention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Objectives: The High Level Panel aims to reinvigorate the mobilization of AU Member States to implement the commitments made through various instruments such as the Maputo protocol, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality, UNSC 1325 and hence transform the lives of Women and girls on the continent and catalyze their contribution to a stable, peaceful and prosperous Africa.
Specific Objectives: The specific objectives include:
- Identify and Mobilize Champions on WPS Agenda;
- Strengthen commitment to solutions;
- Mobilize support for continental Framework;
- Develop partnerships for WPS agenda in Africa;
Expected Outcome:
- Raised awareness on the issues of women, peace and security in Africa;
- Share best practices to stimulate wider actions on WPS agenda;
- Commitment to strengthen capacity through the creation of WPS regional Centres of excellence on the continent by 2020;
- North-South University partnership for training, research and service to community on WPS;

Participants: The High level Panel will be attended by High Ranking Personalities from AU Member States, AUC, UK, UN, International Organisations, Private Sector, Media, Women’s Groups, and universities.

o A specific session will be dedicated to the Youth at the University of Pretoria on the role of women in peace building.

Background:
The African Union has declared the Year 2015 as “Year for Women Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”. In stakeholders’ consultations held on the margins of the 24th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of States and Governments of the African Union, participants noted that the implementation of existing gender equality and women’s empowerment instruments has been painfully slow and that despite considerable progress, women and girls continue to bear the brunt of conflicts in Africa and to be marginalized in processes to build peaceful societies. Hence, there is a need to shift to action and move into an acceleration gear so as to achieve a transformational change for women and girls in Africa. Participants identified six key areas of priority that need to be focused on towards that endeavor. These are the following:
- Transform Agriculture through the mechanization of women’s work to reduce burden and increase productivity, income and autonomy;
- Economic empowerment through financial inclusion;
- Education;
- Health;
- Peace and Security;
- Political participation;
Within the Peace and Security Priority, action need to be focused from now onwards on ensuring that women are at the Peace table to silence the guns on the continent. This would entail the recognition and amplification of the role of women in early warning mechanisms to prevent violence, promote gender equality at the peace table and invest in centers of excellence to build a critical mass of peace builders across the continent.
It is in this perspective that the Chairperson of the African Union Commission HE Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will convene a High Level Panel on women, Peace and Security Agenda on the margins of the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union scheduled for June 2015 in the Republic of South Africa.

Media representatives are invited to cover the meeting.

Join the conversation on the 25th AU Summit following our hashtags #25thAUSummit, #women4agenda2063.

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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