African Regional Organisations, Peace Agreements and Gender Perspectives

Authors: Laura Wise, Kathryn Nash, Niamh Henry, Quinn Farr

This report supplements existing accounts of the AU as a WPS actor, by analysing the statutes and protocols that underpin WPS in Africa, the policies and institutions aimed at implementing the WPS agenda, and how the AU monitors the implementation of WPS in peace processes through the AU Commission’s (AUC) Continental Results Framework (2018-2028) (CRF).

Drawing on primary sources from the AU and RECs, along with secondary literature on gender perspectives in peace agreements, and the PA-X Peace Agreements Data universe, the report explores how African regional organisations and AU member states have engaged in peace processes as third-party signatories from 1990-2025, and the prevalence and content of peace agreements that include explicit gender references.

The report should be viewed as a first look at how the AU constructs and implements WPS goals related to peace agreements, and as a contribution to an existing body of research that emphasises African norm entrepreneurship and agency on WPS.