Gender, Peace and Security in Southern Africa

This workshop report, compiled by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the SADC Gender Alliance, documents a seminar held in November 2010 in Pretoria, South Africa. The event focused on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, examining the gendered dimensions of peace, security, and peacekeeping across Southern and East Africa.

• Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in Southern Africa is lagging, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) being the only country in the region to have adopted a National Plan of Action (NAP).
• Women's representation in the security sectors of Southern African countries remains low and often limited to support roles. South Africa has the highest percentage of women in its defence sector at 24%, while women make up 21% of the South African police service and 18% of the Botswana police force.
• Women are significantly under-represented in peace negotiations and formal agreements within the SADC region. In the last ten years, no woman has served as a signatory to a peace agreement in SADC, and women's participation in Zimbabwe's negotiations was only 18%.
• Gender-based violence (GBV) is a pervasive security threat for women in both fragile and stable Southern African states. In South Africa's Gauteng province, a study found that 51.2% of women experienced some form of violence in their lifetimes, yet only 3.9% reported these crimes to the police.
• Namibia demonstrates a high gender ratio in peacekeeping deployments relative to its force size, nearing the 50% mark, while South Africa deploys a large absolute number of women (19% representation) including in combat roles and as military gender advisors.
• The Juba Peace Process in Uganda was only partially compliant with UNSCR 1325, as women were initially excluded from negotiations and no funds were allocated for their participation. Women eventually influenced the agenda for accountability, reconciliation, and DDR, but remained absent from the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team (CHMT).
• The G40 Women’s Leadership for Peace and Security project in the Greater Horn of Africa aims to build 'security fluency' and secure decision-making seats for women. The project has conducted missions in Addis Ababa, Kampala, Nairobi, and Djibouti, and is now involved in Somalia's constitutional development.
• In Zimbabwe, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is criticized for lacking input from ordinary citizens, failing to address security sector reform (SSR), and not prescribing quotas for women's representation in the transitional government.
• The SADC Gender Alliance proposed a regional action plan with eight objectives to operationalize UNSCR 1325, including mainstreaming gender in peacekeeping, increasing women's representation in decision-making, and developing strategies to eliminate violence against women and girls in conflict zones.

APA

Hendricks, C., & Magadla, S. (2011). Gender, Peace and Security in Southern Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22NovGenderPeaceSecurity.pdf

Chicago

Hendricks, Cheryl, and Siphokazi Magadla. Gender, Peace and Security in Southern Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2011. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22NovGenderPeaceSecurity.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hendricks |first1=Cheryl |last2=Magadla |first2=Siphokazi |title=Gender, Peace and Security in Southern Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2011 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22NovGenderPeaceSecurity.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hendricks2011gender, author = {Hendricks, Cheryl and Magadla, Siphokazi}, title = {{Gender, Peace and Security in Southern Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2011}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22NovGenderPeaceSecurity.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }