General Women, Peace and Security

During the January 2015 women stake holders' forum that I referred to earlier, women demanded loudly "No more solemn Declarations but Solemn Actions and Solemn deliverables". This will be our guiding moto for our endeavors.

Africa has decided to have women at the center of its agenda. In 2014 our leaders adopted an ambitious agenda aiming to bring peace and prosperity in Africa, Agenda 2063. It is unique in its approach as it translates the aspirations of our people "THE AFRICA WE WANT' in the 50 years to come. Agenda 2063 is a people's centered development.

Fifteen years have passed since the Security Council first recognized that women and girls experience armed conflict in particularly dramatic ways and, therefore, have specific needs, concerns and perspectives. This led to the essential acknowledgement that sustainable peace may only be attained if both female and male perspectives are fully taken into account.

Over the past fifteen years, there have been seven Security Council Resolutions demonstrating the international commitment to the principles of protection, prevention, participation and gender mainstreaming.