Women’s 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

Sparked by shared institutional interests in Mary Robinson’s remarkable efforts to advance peace and champion women’s role therein, most recently in the Great Lakes region, this report is the product of a joint research endeavor between the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Washington DC and the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway. We are very grateful for the invaluable support of both institutions in this process. In particular, we thank Ambassador Melanne Verveer for her very positive response to the initial research proposal last year and the generous encouragement she has given through its completion. We are especially indebted to Mayesha Alam, who, in her role as research manager at GIWPS was always available to support this project amongst many others, and to provide invaluable expert feedback along the way. We thank the women civil society leaders in the DRC (listed in Appendix C) for taking the time to share their perspectives and analyses of the peace-building process at the national level. Their carefully considered contributions are greatly appreciated. We also wish to extend sincere thanks to UN Special Envoy Mary Robinson for participating in an interview for this report and to Madeleine Schwarz and Miranda Tabifor in the office o