This special edition of ACCORD’s Conflict and Resilience Monitor is dedicated to International Women’s Day. This day is celebrated each year on 8 March and honours the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year it also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality under the hashtag #BreaktheBias.
We kick off this edition with a contribution by Hanna Tetteh, the Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General to the African Union (AU). She writes about the contribution of women in leadership in Africa and the work of the UN in partnering with the AU to help prepare the next generation of women leaders in Africa.
Next, we turn our focus to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the DRC, Bintou Keita, reflects on the work of the UN Mission to the DRC (MONUSCO) to advance gender equality and women’s participation in peace processes in the DRC.
From the perspective of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (AUCHPR), Commissioner Janet Ramatoulie Sallah-Njie writes about the achievements, challenges and opportunities associated with the rights of women in Africa.
Our fourth piece is from Pravina Makan-Lakha, ACCORD’s advisor on Women, Peace and Security. She writes about the AU’s #WhatAfricanWomenWant campaign and the impact that COVID-19 and other global events such as the Ukraine-Russia conflict has and will have on gender equality and women’s empowerment.Lastly, ACCORD’s Lwandile Moyo writes about the importance of acknowledging the women who have been at the forefront of breaking gendered barriers within their local communities in South Africa.
