Women's participation in mediation leadership as special envoys in the African Union

Abstract

The problem this study addresses is the limited inclusion of women in mediation leadership as special envoys in the African Union (AU). This qualitative case study research, taking a constructivist world view, intends to examine the African Union with the aim to assess how the organisation constitutes its mediation efforts on the continent with a particular focus on the appointment of special envoys. This will be done through a critical literature review of primary sources such as the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and the AU gender policy (2009), including secondary academic sources. The study assesses progress in the AU following the adoption of UNSCR 1325 in 2000, and the period under consideration is from 2000 to 2019. Most available literature addresses the importance of the inclusion of women as negotiators in mediation processes and in peacekeeping. Only a few specifically address mediation leadership as an area of concern in the African Union. The study contributes to the literature that highlights and brings this exclusion to the fore and interrogates the factors contributing to low women’s participation in mediation leadership in the African Union, with the objective of making recommendations that will assist with addressing this exclusion, particularly by addressing the issues of lack of standardised selection criterion that may be utilised in the appointment of special envoys.