Dec. 11, 2019 (ENTEBBE, Uganda): The Ministers of Gender and women Affairs together with responsible for Peace/Security/Defence from Member States of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) convened today in Entebbe in order to follow up the outcomes from their 7th Ministerial meeting held in Khartoum, Sudan on 6th December 2018 and to discuss issues of Women in Peace and Security.
The Ministerial meeting held in Entebbe focused on gauging progress towards implementation of commitments to the UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1325 and 1820 and subsequent relevant resolutions. IGAD adopted a Regional Action Plan on UNSCRs 1325 & 1820 in 2013 and four IGAD Member States have National Action Plans in this regard (Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, and South Sudan). Issues related to the IGAD Women in Peace and Security Forum (IWPSF) were also discussed.
The Ministerial meeting was preceded by a two-day technical meeting during which Experts from Member States Ministries responsible for women/gender affairs deliberated on women, peace and security issues in the region and prepared recommendations which were presented to the Ministers for endorsement.
Other participants at the ministerial meeting included IGAD focal points from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations, RJMEC and IWPSF.
The Minister of State for Gender and Culture Affairs of Uganda, Hon. Peace Regis Mutuuzo, opened the meeting. She called upon all participants and partners ‘to reflect and pick lessons, and recommendations from the implementation [of UNSCRs UNSCRs 1325 and 1820] so that we consolidate on the successes and address the bottlenecks registered’.
‘When women are taken on board in negotiating peace and in deciding peace agreements, the peace lasts longer’ Senior Program Coordinator at the Peace and Security Division of IGAD, Mrs. Legawork Assefa, recalled as one of the outcomes of a review of the 15 years of implementation that was done five years ago.
The overall objective of the Ministerial meeting was to draw attention to the topic of women and peace and security and secure informed commitments of the Member States to the agenda. This meeting also informed the Member States on the essential tools that are already in place to accelerate implementation processes in regards to their commitments on a regional basis.
The major areas that were discussed during the one-day meeting were:
- The overall Peace and Security trends in the Horn of Africa;
- Results of the assessment of the UNSCR 1325 and 1820 implementation in the IGAD region; and
- The IGAD Women, Peace and Security Forum (IWPSF).
The Ministers issued a resolution at the closing of the meeting.
This meeting was conducted with the financial support from the European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) administered by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) under the IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region (IPPSHAR) Programme.
