The Gender is My Agenda Campaign held its 15th Young Women’s Advocacy Training and 42nd Pre-Summit Consultative Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union and Member States, that took place from 06 – 08 February 2026 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The meeting aligned with the African Union’s theme for the year, titled “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063”. The GIMAC meeting therefore focused on Advancing Gender-Responsive Water and Sanitation Policies for Sustainable Development in Africa. The theme cut across thematic areas such as health, agriculture, peace and security, education, among others; and that access to water remained a foundational human right issue. Experts made recommendations that included the need to integrate gender into policy frameworks and infrastructure development to address the challenges that women face particularly on water and sanitation systems.
ACCORD’s Programme Coordinator, Ms Marisha Ramdeen moderated the Peace and Security Session where speakers provided the lived realities of women in conflict, particularly those in the IDP camps in Burundi and Chad where they encounter threats to their health and safety. A representative from the Women’s International Peace Centre (WIPC) shared the study they undertook on the nexus between climate change, water scarcity and conflict.
The key highlights from the sessions will enable GIMAC to formulate advocacy messages on financing gender-transformative water and sanitation initiatives. The expected outputs of this activity will include an Outcome Document and Communiqué that is adopted and strategically disseminated to the AU Commission, the Permanent Representatives’ Committee, the Executive Council, RECs and Heads of State delegations with recommendations for integrating women and youth into all water governance structures.
Following the training and GIMAC Consultative meeting, partners and steering committee members convened to reflect on the proceedings. Partners provided helpful recommendations to enhance GIMAC’s role as well as ways in which partners can contribute thematically in the discussions. The GIMAC network remains an integral network that ensures policies are gender sensitive and mainstreamed in all areas. ACCORD will continue to collaborate with members of the network for increased gender mainstreaming on the continent.
