Added Value of the APSA Institutions to the women's empowerment discourse on the African continent
1. Added Value of the APSA Institutions to the
Conflict Prevention and Women’s Political
Participation Discourse in the Africa Continent
Dudziro Nhengu, UN Women Zimbabwe
Dudziro Nhengu
2. Rationale - why topic on APSA?
Issue of marginalisation of women is a structural issue
therefore a conflict issue
Political participation is largely through elections and
elections in Africa expose women to discriminatory
mind-sets and practices
For these reasons the discourse on women’s political
participation should be remised within the large peace
and security framework on the continent.
Dudziro Nhengu
3. Defining the problem • Africa in post MDGs era yet
many countries still below
the previous 30% mark
• Only Rwanda above the 50%
mark, Seychelles, SA,
Senegal and Mozambique
almost there.
• Tunisia, Angola, Sudan,
Zimbabwe, Cameroon and
Ethiopia above 30%
• The rest 44 countries below
30%
• Average % of women
parliamentarians in Sub
Saharan Africa is 23% (IPU)
• Many African countries are
in conflictDudziro Nhengu
4. The conflict and WPP equation in Africa
The equation of the issue of women’s political participation is:
If more women participate in politics, there will be less conflict on
the continent and If conflict is mitigated effectively, more women
will participate in politics
If Africa’s institutions are better defined and more gender sensitive,
there will be less and no conflict, and more women will participate
in conflict
For these reasons and more, it is important for us as African women
to know more about the APSA and relate our politics to it
Dudziro Nhengu
5. Starting point - formation of the OAU
In 1963 in Addis Ababa, the Organization of African Unity (OAU)
was formed within the discourse of liberation from colonialism to:
promote the unity and solidarity of African states, coordinate
and intensify efforts to achieve a better life for the peoples of
Africa, safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Member States & promote international cooperation within the
United Nations framework
The OAU operated on the basis of its Charter and the 1991 Treaty
Establishing the African Economic Community (known as the Abuja
Treaty). Dudziro Nhengu
6. Challenges of the OAU and transition to AU
The post-Cold War era - security void - rapid change of the peace and security
landscape in Africa during the 1990s:
• close to 26 conflicts recorded btwn 1963 and 1968, claiming +7 million lives
• growth of terrorism, drug cartel and international criminal activities
Peacebuilding conceptualised as a specific area of international policy
intervention within the UN, with support from the DPKO (Boutros Boutros-
Ghali’s 1992)
Involvement of the OECD to coordinate aid agencies’ peacebuilding activities in
1997, and the World Bank establishing the Post-Conflict Fund to ensure faster
loans and grants to conflict-affected countries that same year.
Dudziro Nhengu
7. The UN PBA
The UN PBA in 2005 - which again presented challenges to Africans:
• Lack of political will to swiftly respond to conflict on the continent, reason
why many conflicts spilt over into genocides, Rwanda, Burundi, Chad
• Hegemonic tendencies of the UN – ICC only for Africans and never for
Europeans – there was a contestation and complexity, with Africa presenting
counter hegemonic arguments for autonomy
Led to reconceptualization of the OAU into the AU in 2000, with a Constitutive
Act for sovereignty and territorial integrity for African countries
Dudziro Nhengu
8. Conceptualisation of the APSA
In 2002 AU Member States decided to form a home-
conceived, home-grown and home-implemented peace and
security architecture, the APSA to respond to the challenges
of peace and security (peacekeeping, peace enforcement etc.)
The APSA is a framework for the prevention, management
and resolution of crises and conflicts in Africa.
Dudziro Nhengu
9. Components of the APSA
Peace and
Security
Council (PSC)
Common
African
Defence
and
Security
Policy Relations
with the
RECs
African
Standby
Force
Continenta
l Early
Warning
Systems
(CEWs)
Panel of
the Wise
Peace
Fund
Dudziro Nhengu
10. Achievements so far
In the AU Commission is a Gender and Development Directorate
established in 2000 - goal is to supporting member states in
formulating National Action Plans on Gender / UNSCR 1325
In 2013 the AU Commission elected Madame Nkosazana Dhlamini
Zuma as Chair (in 2013)
Gender strongly becoming a cross-cutting theme at the AU
Commission and policy of 50-50 parity in AU structures has been
effected. Out of 10 Commissioners, 50% are women
Dudziro Nhengu
11. Achievements continued……..
• AU Panel of the Wise adopted gender parity approach – 8
members: 4 men & 4 – women
• The Panel is tasked with peace-making and preventive diplomacy
efforts in Africa AU/Pan African Parliament: Gender -50/50
• AU’s Pan African Parliament also implements the continental body’s
policy on empowering women
• There is Gender balance in Pan African Parliament leadership and
governance
• AU’s PAP works with Women Parliamentary caucuses in Member
states to support gender sensitive legislative processes
Dudziro Nhengu
12. Achievements continued
The AU Decade for Women launched in 2010 (2010-2020) to advance gender
equality by engendering African ownership. The theme for the Decade
“Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE): A Bottom-Up
Approach. ” This AU Decade provides a Roadmap towards advancing gender
equality in the continent
The AU Women’s Fund established 2011 following to support women’s
economic empowerment initiatives, linked with the new Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Fund
The AU Program on Women in Mediation to enhance capacity building of
women in peace-making as well as of women with potential to be mediators,
working closely with civil society organizations e.g. ACCORD, Crisis
Management Initiative (CMI) to ensure gender parity in AU mediation
architecture e.g. Panel of the Wise. Dudziro Nhengu
13. Achievements continued………
Reduction in the number and effects of conflicts on the continent, Africa now
has the capacity to anticipate and monitor conflicts through the EWER systems
Existence of unprecedented instruments that do not exist in other organisations
the principle of non-indifference, instrument on unconstitutional changes of
governments & suspension of de facto governments
Africa has an upper hand in discussing and deciding on its own peace and
security issues
Professionalism and expertise across the continent in all areas including
peacekeeping, consolidation of peace, humanitarian action, etc.
Dudziro Nhengu
14. The AU situation room – EWER mechanism
• Tasked with:
• Monitoring
• Information gathering
and reporting
• Communication
• Products:
Dudziro Nhengu
17. Challenges continued………………….
Lack of adequate funding
Political will and ownership of Members States not
translating into resources, coupled with capacity gaps
Weak coordination among APSA components
Dudziro Nhengu
18. Way forward for more success
Aligning the AU Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD)
policy and the UN PBA in order to prioritise and tackle the same issues
on the continent.
Strategically, UN and AU need to foster a common narrative that is
mutually reinforcing and respectful of each other’s roles so that it
becomes easier for both organisations to involve each other from the
earliest stages in assessments, planning, coordination mechanisms,
[and] mission support, benchmarks and evaluation.
The Joint UN-AU Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace
and Security, signed by the AU Department for Peace and Security and
the UN Office to the AU in March 2014, and the Common African
Positions is a good example of such mutual reinforcement?
Dudziro Nhengu
