Former heads of state and senior African women leaders, including Sahle-Work Zewde, Catherine Samba-Panza and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, travelled to Angola for a High-Level Forum of Women of the Great Lakes Region held in Luanda on 18 and 19 October 2024.
The forum focused on strengthening women’s participation and leadership in peace and security processes in the Great Lakes region and on advancing implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
Participants included representatives from the 12 member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, gender ministers, African women’s leadership networks, FemWise-Africa, regional organisations, UN agencies, diplomatic missions, religious institutions and academia.
The initiative reflects the African Union’s recognition that women’s leadership is essential to peace, security, governance and sustainable development.
