UN Deputy Secretary-General, Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed, is leading a first-ever joint AU-UN high-level mission to Africa, to highlight the role of women in achieving sustainable peace and development.
On Mohammed’s entourage are UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and the Special Envoy of the AU on Women, Peace and Security, Bineta Diop. The UN said over the past two days, the delegation met with key members of the Congolese Government, the donor community, as well as women leaders from the civil society.
At Kinshasa, the deputy secretary-general said their discussions revolved around “a focus on women, and how we can see women’s empowerment, address women’s human rights, and women with their rights to the electoral process”. More broadly, while stressing the need to respect everyone’s abilities, she said “there is no one size that fits all”, adding that women’s every day rights must be addressed contextually.
“There is no aircraft that flies anywhere, or bird that flies anywhere, on half a wing,” she underscored. She echoed her refrain from other stops on the trip that a critical step towards sustainable development for all is to ensure that women and girls, half the world’s population, receive the investments, opportunities, access and protection they require. Mohammed explained that the UN and the AU had each begun another era with new leadership, reforms and frameworks.
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