On the occasion of the 26th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, adopted on 31 October 2000, the African Centre for Security, Governance and Development (Centre SGD) has joined the global community in commemorating the landmark resolution which recognised that armed conflict affects women and men differently and that lasting peace is impossible without women at the decision-making table.
UNSCR 1325 established a historic blueprint for gender-responsive security governance across four pillars: Participation – guaranteeing women’s equal involvement in peace negotiations and security leadership; Protection – safeguarding women and girls from conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence; Prevention – integrating gender analysis into early-warning and conflict prevention; and Relief and Recovery – tailoring post-conflict responses to women and girls.
Centre SGD noted that empowering women as peace actors is not merely equity but strategic necessity, as research shows peace agreements are far more likely to last at least 15 years when women participate as negotiators, mediators, conciliators, signatories and witnesses.
Over 26 years, Africa has recorded progress including adoption of National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security, regional inclusion frameworks, state action plans, and growth of women-mediator networks, HeForShe Male Ambassadors and Media Networks.
However, the Centre decried the gap between policy and reality, citing the UN Secretary-General’s 2025 WPS report that 87 percent of peace talks in 2024 took place without a single woman negotiator, with women making up only 7 percent of negotiators globally. It said the exclusion reflects systemic patriarchal norms, unequal power relations and institutional inertia within security and diplomatic structures.
As Africa faces election tensions, violent extremism, insurgency, unconstitutional changes of government and regional instability, Centre SGD called on governments, ECOWAS, African Union, international partners and civil society to institutionalise gender inclusivity by mandating equal high-level participation of women in formal negotiations, strengthen implementation of NAPs with dedicated funding, capacity building and clear Means of Verification, reform policing, military and intelligence institutions to be gender-responsive, and protect women human rights defenders, mediators and civil society actors in high-risk zones.
“Peace agreements that ignore half the population cannot hold. If we are serious about sustainable peace and security in Nigeria and across the African continent, we must dismantle the institutional barriers keeping women away from the high table of security governance,” Executive Director Theresa Chigozirim Odinkalu-Okoro said.
