Make Every Woman Count - Promoting the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Africa

On the 31st of October 2000, the Security Council of the United Nations unanimously adopted resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The adoption of this landmark resolution marks the first time that the Security Council addressed the role and experience of women and girls in armed conflicts. The resolution 1325 calls all UN bodies, Governments and parties to armed conflict to :

• protect and respect the rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict;
• increase women participation and gender prespectives in all conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peace-building, planning of refugee camps and reconstruction.
• end punity by prosecuting perpetrators of sexual and other violence on women and girls;

The UN Security Council subsequently adopted four additional resolutions on women, peace and security: 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009) and 1960 (2010). These five resolutions taken together,  form United Nations framework related to women, peace and security.

National Action Plan:

The security council resolution 1325 encourage Member States to create a Nations Action Plan for the full implementation of the resolution at national level. The creation of an action plan provides an opportunity to initiate strategic actions, identify priorities and resources, and determine the responsibilities and timeframes

There are currently 24 countries that have adopted a National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325. So far, there are six countries that have approved a Nationa Actiona Plan on UNSCR 1325 in Africa:

1. The Cote D'Ivoire National Action Plan for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 (2000) was launched in January 2007.

2. The DRC National Action Plan for the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 was launched in June 2010.

3. The LiberiaNational Action Plan for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 (2000) was launched on 8 March 2009.The

4. Rwandan National Action Plan for the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 was launched in May 2010.

5. The Sierra Leone National Action Plan for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 (2000) was launched in March 2010.

6. The Uganda Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 & 1820 and the Goma Declaration was released in December 2

For more information on UNSCR 1325, please visit the following webiste:

• UN Women
• Women Watch
• UN-Instraw

• PeaceWomen

• The Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE)
• NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
• Wide Angle: Women, War and Peace