20 July 2017: Urgent action is required to increase women’s participation in peace processes and ensure their voices are heard on all aspects of society, according to remarks made by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed during the first-ever UN-African Union (AU) trip focused on women, peace and security. The trip aimed to raise awareness on gender equality issues, including on the importance of women’s participation in peace and security processes. Such efforts will contribute to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 (gender equality) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), among others.

During the trip, Mohammed underscored the importance of advancing gender equality as a precondition for sustainable development. She advocated for investing in building women’s capacity and bringing the voices of women to the forefront so women can be a “constructive partner in finding solutions to sustainable development.” Mohammed highlighted challenges faced by women, including high maternal mortality rates, extremism and education gaps. She stressed that “without peace we cannot have development,” explaining that investing in the SDGs and engaging women in peace and security discussions can help prevent conflict.

UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, Bineta Diop, participated in the joint trip with Mohammed. During the trip, they visited Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and met with high-level government officials and women affected by conflict.

Also on peace and development, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) published a blog post, titled ‘Sustainable Development and Sustaining Peace: Two Sides of the Same Coin,’ which underscores that sustainable development is key to sustaining peace and vice versa. The post highlights that many countries in difficult situations, such as Afghanistan, Togo and Colombia, have embraced the SDGs and consider them integral to peacebuilding. Due to the mutually beneficial relationship between peace and sustainable development, the blog post explains the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and resolutions on the UN’s peacebuilding architecture call for dissolving silos and advancing a coherent and integrated approach, recognizing that development, peace and security, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. [UN News Story] [UN Women News Story] [UNDP Blog] [UN Resolution on the UN’s Peacebuilding Architecture]