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8306th Security Council Meeting: Peace and Security in Africa
There can be no peace, security or development without the involvement of women at all levels of decision‑making and peace processes, the Security Council heard today during a briefing from senior officials who just returned from a visit to the Sahel region, where women and girls pay a stark cost for conflict.
Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary‑General, having visited South Sudan, Niger and Chad, said discussions were held with various local, national, regional and international leaders. Joining her on the visit were Bineta Diop, African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, and Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, who also briefed the Council.
Ms. Mohammed told the 15‑member organ that in the rural areas of Chad, the impact of Boko Haram has resulted in insecurity, loss of family members and the increased use of female suicide bombers. Women across the region were demanding their voices be heard. In Chad and Niger, they advocated for implementation of legislation on a quota for political participation. Women leaders continue to be a powerful voice against gender inequality and attacks on women’s rights.
Work remains to be done to keep countries experiencing fragility today from becoming the failed States of tomorrow, she continued. “The cost of inaction is high,” she added, warning that poverty, weak institutions and gender inequality are creating an environment ripe for extremism. Investment in development must be transformative. She underscored the need to implement critical international commitments including the Sahel Support Plan, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 of the African Union.
Ms. Diop said the Sahel region is facing major challenges from extremist groups, which strike indiscriminately. Success in combating Boko Haram in some areas has led to the return of many young men to their homes, where they languish without jobs or opportunities. Meanwhile, poverty across the region has resulted in an uptick in child marriages. States need to play a greater role in providing the population with basic services such as fresh water, whose deprivation is often manipulated by extremist groups in order to wield power over communities.
She appealed to the international community to “step up your aid” to peace and development projects in the Sahel. Everything hinges on prevention, she stressed, including the provision of basic services and support for women and girls. Every woman should be empowered to say no to early marriage, association with extremist groups and a life of poverty. Instead, they must be assisted to become drivers of social change in their countries.
Ms. Wallström, also speaking in her national capacity, recounted several social challenges including inadequate health care and lack of access to education for girls, describing how those issues are closely linked with those of peace and security, human rights, humanitarian assistance and development. The United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel and its related support plan are key tools to help achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. The Council must ensure that women’s voices are heard around peace negotiating tables and in its own Chamber, she stressed, adding that all peace operations mandates must include a women, peace and security perspective.
Outlining some of the mission’s meetings with women in Chad and Niger, she said fighting terrorism effectively means adopting a gender‑sensitive and human rights‑based approach, “whether we are talking about the prevention of radicalization, counter‑terrorism operations or providing support to victims”.
In the ensuing discussion, the United Kingdom’s delegate said that women’s economic empowerment, political participation and role in their communities should be both cultured and curated. “This is not just a morale issue, it is an economic issue,” she added.
“When women’s voices are silenced […] entire communities suffer, and that suffering leads to conflict,” said the representative of the United States. In the Sahel, where peace and security means empowering women, the United States is empowering women and girls there by focusing on building stronger connections between health, microenterprise, community development and peace and security.
The representative of Equatorial Guinea expressed concern that more than 2 million people in the Sahel remain displaced and live in crowded facilities with limited access to basic services. The results of the crisis are felt most acutely by women and girls, who are often used as suicide bombers, are sexually exploited or are ostracized by their communities after being released by armed groups.
Côte d’Ivoire’s delegate said that support is required from the international community, but equally critical is the full involvement of women across the region, who must be viewed as agents of change and actors in the Sahel’s development. However, multiple crises — including mounting terrorism, climate change and the use of sexual violence by groups such as Boko Haram — still stand in the way of women’s full participation.
“The road ahead is long and strewn with challenges,” said Chad’s representative as he outlined various action plans his Government has taken to address gender‑based violence, child marriage and the wave of refugees and displaced persons. After decades of humanitarian assistance, results in the region fall woefully short of expectations. He called on development policies to transition from conventional humanitarian assistance to pooled efforts for sustainable development.
Also speaking today were representatives of Peru, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Russian Federation, China, Ethiopia, Bolivia, France (also on behalf of Germany), Kuwait and Poland.
The meeting began at 10:11 a.m. and ended at 12:37 p.m.