A regional forum on women’s leadership for peace in Sahel border regions and coastal countries opened Wednesday, August 26, in Bamako, running until August 28, 2026, to strengthen women’s participation in conflict prevention, mediation, and peacebuilding.
A gathering in Bamako has brought together women’s organizations, mediators, and government officials from across West Africa to address the underrepresentation of women in peace processes.
The meeting, which opened in the Malian capital, includes participants from seven countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin, Chad, Mauritania, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Representatives from national authorities, regional and sub-regional institutions, United Nations agencies, defense and security actors, researchers, community and religious leaders, and youth organizations are taking part in the proceedings.
The meeting takes place against a backdrop of significant displacement. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 20 million people were forcibly displaced or stateless in West and Central Africa in April 2026.
Women and children account for 80% of refugees and asylum seekers in the region.
Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Mali, noted that more than twenty-five years after the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, conflict-related violence remains a concern.
She cited UN-verified figures of more than 4,600 cases of conflict-related sexual violence globally in 2024, an 87% increase compared to 2022.
Discussions at the meeting have highlighted four priorities: guaranteeing women’s participation at all stages of peace processes, strengthening the protection of women mediators and peace defenders, facilitating access for women’s organizations to flexible and directly accessible funding, and establishing a monitoring mechanism that specifies responsibilities, resources, and timelines for each recommendation.
Mali’s Minister for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the Family, Diarra Djénéba Sanogo, said the meeting with the Special Envoy of the African Union Commission Chairperson for Women, Peace and Security, Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, should help accelerate the implementation of this agenda in the region.
Sanogo stressed the need to amplify the voices of women, particularly those in cross-border communities, and to strengthen their presence in mechanisms for conflict prevention, mediation, and resolution.
According to the minister, women’s participation in peace processes meets a requirement of equity and also constitutes a necessity and an additional opportunity to build lasting, inclusive peace that is better rooted in local realities.
Particular attention is being paid to security challenges and new dynamics within the space of the Alliance of Sahel States.
The promotion of women, gender equality, and access to fundamental rights are presented as levers to consolidate their leadership and strengthen regional stability.
Sanogo called for a convergence of regional initiatives, in line with the guidelines of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The expected recommendations from the meeting should help clarify the next steps of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, improve regional coordination, and foster more effective participation of women in decisions affecting peace.
Several dignitaries attended the opening of the proceedings, including Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Mali, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Mali, Erik de Feijter.
Source: Journal du Mali