ABSTRACT
This chapter will assess the extent to which the African Union (AU) has mainstreamed gender equality in its peace and security agenda. It will begin by developing a conceptual framework to articulate the case for incorporating a gendered analysis of the peace and security challenges in Africa. The chapter will then examine the challenge of gender-based violence in conflict situations on the African continent. In particular, it will discuss how Africa has witnessed the confluence between gender, violence, and war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Darfur. The chapter will assess some of the key international instruments for promoting gender equality, with a specific focus on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which stipulates the role that women should play in promoting peace and security. This UN Resolution 1325 established the premise upon which the African Union developed its own Declaration on gender equality with a specific focus. The chapter will then briefly assess the efforts that the AU has undertaken to mainstream gender into its peace and security institutions and agenda. In particular, this chapter will argue that the AU gender mainstreaming initiatives have been largely top-down and there is a need for it to take more concrete steps to actualize its normative claims. Specifically, it will assess some illustration of efforts of the limited impact of the AU’s norms on its member states, as a result of a lack of an explicit commitment to implementing initiatives to address gender concerns. Ultimately, the paper will propose how further to entrench gender mainstreaming into the work of the AU’s conflict prevention and peace-building agenda.
