ACCORD, in partnership with the African Union Commission’s (AUC’s) Mediation and Dialogue Division (MDD), organised a Roundtable Reflective Meeting on Lessons Learned on the FemWise-Africa Decentralization Process. The meeting took place from 16 – 17 December 2025 in Dakar, Senegal.
The AU MDD have been actively working to decentralise the FemWise-Africa Network in support of more women-led conflict prevention initiatives at the national and regional levels since 2020. This included national chapters that included Malawi, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan. This was the first meeting of this nature to have these chapters convene and share some of the initiatives and efforts they have undertaken, as well as challenges they have encountered. It was notable that Femwise Malawi worked in close collaboration with its Ministry to initiate efforts to train community leaders in the build up to Malawi’s 2025 presidential elections. A representative from Morocco shared their efforts to commence with the establishment of its Femwise chapter by means of its second-generation National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. The Co-chair of Femwise – ECOWAS and representatives of the South African Gertrude Shope Women Mediators Network joined the meeting to assess progress, and opportunities in strengthening the operationalisation of these chapters and networks. The South African representatives also shared a detailed overview in terms of their progress, achievements and challenges since the establishment of the Gertrude Shope Women Mediators Network.
The meeting concluded with key recommendations that were identified with a focus on membership, resource mobilisation and opportunities for practical engagement. These recommendations will be taken into consideration as the AU continues to guide and support the institutional and operational capacities of the Femwise Chapters. ACCORD remains available to provide support to the AU and its chapters for more efficient and effective gendered conflict prevention efforts.
