Great Lakes Peace Push Puts Women’s Role in DR Congo Talks to the Test

Senior African Union, United Nations and European Union representatives have called for women to play a substantive role in efforts to end the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. At a Great Lakes peace event held during the UN General Assembly period and reported by the AU on September 22, the partners urged renewed political engagement, stronger coordination and women’s participation in mediation, ceasefire arrangements and the implementation of any settlement.

The appeal comes while eastern DRC’s conflict continues to impose a heavy humanitarian cost. The event’s organisers described women and girls as disproportionately affected by violence while women remain underrepresented in formal negotiations. Their statement is a political commitment and a call for practical follow-up, not evidence that a new ceasefire has been reached or that women have already gained decision-making positions in every peace mechanism.

Beyond a seat at the side event

The meeting, titled Together for Peace: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Peace Efforts for the Great Lakes Region, was convened by AU, UN and EU representatives for the region. Togo, which leads the AU-mandated mediation process for eastern DRC, served as co-chair. Regional and international partners included MONUSCO, UN Women, the African Women Leaders Network and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

That roster illustrates how crowded the diplomatic field has become. Coordination between envoys can prevent competing proposals and conflicting messages, but the people most affected by the conflict need a route into the decisions that follow. Participation should therefore be tested at the table where priorities are set, in the groups that verify compliance and in the bodies that decide what happens when agreements are breached. An invitation to a public forum is useful only if it leads to influence over these later stages.

Women in eastern DRC are not a single constituency. Community mediators, displaced women, traders, health workers, young people, survivors of violence and members of political organisations may have different needs and views. Selecting only a few familiar representatives can make a process appear inclusive while leaving many experiences unheard. A credible mechanism would disclose how participants are chosen, how they consult their communities and how their recommendations are handled.

Ceasefire monitoring is a practical test

Peace agreements can fail during implementation even when negotiators agree on a text. A ceasefire-monitoring arrangement must collect information, verify incidents and bring credible findings back to decision-makers. Local women may have direct knowledge of movement, threats, access to markets and the safety of routes used by families. That knowledge can improve early warning, provided contributors are protected and their reports are treated seriously.

In August, MONUSCO reported that about 120 members of civil society organisations met across Goma, Bukavu, Beni, Bunia and Kinshasa to examine women’s role in a DRC ceasefire-monitoring mechanism. Their demand was to move beyond symbolic participation. This local discussion gives the September diplomatic appeal a concrete benchmark: will women from affected areas have defined roles in monitoring structures, access to information and a way to influence responses to violations?

Safety is part of that benchmark. A community member asked to report abuses or breaches may face intimidation, especially where armed actors remain active. Participation needs secure channels, protection for sensitive information and support for travel and communication. It also requires a distinction between confidential testimony and public advocacy; people should not have to expose themselves to danger to be counted as included.

Political talks need accountability after signatures

The AU’s September statement calls for women to be involved from negotiations through implementation. That matters because an agreement can promise civilian protection, humanitarian access or local dispute resolution without specifying who will track delivery. Including women in follow-up bodies can connect formal commitments to lived conditions, but those bodies need a mandate and resources. If their observations are neither published nor acted on, participation becomes another unfulfilled clause.

In a separate high-level AU meeting on September 21, Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called for dedicated resources for women mediators and civil society organisations and for their inclusion in implementation, monitoring and verification. The call identifies a recurring weakness in peace processes: participants may be welcomed during consultation but excluded when money, access and authority are allocated. A budget line, named responsibilities and routine public reporting would make that commitment easier to test.

MONUSCO also reported that about 50 women from civil society and political parties met in Kinshasa in August to develop a common agenda for an announced national dialogue. The example shows that women are already organising around peace and political questions within DRC. International partners do not need to invent a constituency; they need to create fair, durable ways for existing networks to be heard and to hold negotiators accountable.

An AU plan gives the appeal a longer horizon

The African Union’s Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security launched a 2026-2028 strategic plan earlier in September. The AU describes a gap between written commitments and actual participation and says the plan covers leadership in peace processes, protection, prevention, recovery, accountability and predictable financing. It offers an institutional frame for the Great Lakes pledge, although the effectiveness of that frame will depend on implementation by AU bodies, states and partners.

Several layers of work are now running at once: AU-led mediation, regional diplomacy, UN engagement, ceasefire discussions and national dialogue. The September event’s organisers pledged closer engagement with women’s organisations and systematic dialogue between civil society and political leaders. Coordination should make those channels easier to use, not produce additional meetings with no decision pathway. Partners can start by publishing who is responsible for convening consultations, how recommendations reach negotiators and when progress will be reviewed.

Any assessment should focus on outcomes that can be checked: women serving in negotiating and verification teams with defined authority; protection for local contributors; funds that let organisations participate independently; and written responses to proposals from affected communities. None of those measures alone would end the war. Together, they would show whether the AU, UN, EU and regional partners are converting their September appeal into a peace process that draws on more of the Great Lakes region’s own knowledge and leadership.