Womens Leadership and Participation in the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes Region: Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities

This report takes as its point of departure the adoption of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and Region (PSC Framework, February 2013) and the appointment of Mary Robinson as UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa (March 2013). It provides a review the first year of operation of the PSC Framework as it unfolded.  The overall objective of the report is to provide timely, well-documented information about the ongoing implementation of the PSC Framework, with a focus on women and gender. In particular, the authors identify key gains made as well as the challenges and opportunities that exist for womens leadership and participation, and for bottom-up civil society engagement more generally, therein. As such, the resulting report is also intended to support the efforts of womens and other civil society actors to engage with and monitor progress in the implementation of the PSC Framework. This report is based on a review of relevant policy documentation at regional, international, and DRC (national) levels and on several semi-structured interviews by email with key informants, including 11 women civil society leaders in the DRC.