45+ Years Of experience
Bineta Diop is a renowned African stateswoman, global advocate for women’s rights, and peacebuilder. As the Founder and President of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) and Co-Convener of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), she has dedicated her life to advancing women’s leadership in peace, governance, and development across Africa. From 2014 to 2025, she served as the African Union Chairperson’s Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, championing women’s participation in peacebuilding and policymaking at the highest levels.
Bineta Diop has been a driving force for inclusive peacebuilding across Africa, ensuring women’s voices shape solutions to conflict. Through Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) and as African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, she has facilitated women’s participation in major peace processes, including the Arusha Agreement (Burundi, 2000), the Sun City Agreement (DRC, 2002), and the Akosombo Talks (Liberia, 2003), and led solidarity missions to Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. In August 2023, she led a high-level women’s peace advocacy mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo, following the 11th Regional Oversight Mechanism Summit in Bujumbura, to assess the conflict’s gendered impact, engage authorities, and recommend the creation of a regional women’s peace forum. This resulted in the convening of a Sudanese Women’s Peace Dialogue in Uganda (July 2024) and preparations for a High-Level Women’s Forum for the Great Lakes Region (Luanda, 2024), bringing together women leaders, ministers, and civil society to develop a shared peace agenda. She sustained diplomacy continues to embed women’s leadership at the heart of Africa’s mediation, peace, and security architecture.
Bineta Diop has been at the forefront of redefining gender norms in Africa, leading the transformation of women’s roles from beneficiaries to recognized leaders in peace, security, and governance. Through decades of advocacy and institution-building, she helped anchor gender equality at the heart of the African Union’s values and legal instruments..
- From her early work with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva, she contributed to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and established strategic relationships with the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
- Recognizing the need for an African women-led movement, she co-founded Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) to promote women’s participation in peace processes and to institutionalize gender perspectives within the OAU and later the AU.
- As Secretary-General of the African Women’s Committee on Peace and Development (AWCPD), she worked to link civil society with the OAU and ECA, ensuring that women’s voices were central in peacebuilding and policy-making at the continental level.
- Bineta Diop, through Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), was instrumental in the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), contributing practical insights from African conflict zones and shaping the resolution’s focus on women’s participation, conflict prevention, and protection in peace processes.
- She led the first delegation of African women to the OAU Summit in Lomé (2000), lobbying for women’s inclusion in the new Constitutive Act of the African Union. Her leadership inspired the adoption of the gender parity principle in 2002—making the AU the first intergovernmental body to enshrine parity in its statutes.
- She co-led the consultations and advocacy that resulted in the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Maputo Protocol. Her work, through FAS and AWCPD, mobilized governments, legal experts, and civil society to secure its adoption at the 2003 Maputo Summit, establishing the most comprehensive legal framework for women’s rights on the continent.
- She played a central role in drafting and promoting the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), which obliges African Heads of State to report annually on gender progress. This mechanism later led to the development of the Solemn Declaration Index (SDI), a monitoring tool co-developed by FAS and the AU.
- She convened civil society partners to form the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC)—a Pan-African network that monitors AU gender commitments and unites organizations around themes of peace, rights, health, education, and governance. Through GIMAC, she institutionalized the participation of women and civil society in AU decision-making spaces before each Summit.
- Her leadership transformed continental norms on women’s representation, culminating in the “one man, one woman” parity principle in AU organs and inspiring new generations of African women leaders, including the election of H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Africa’s first female Head of State.
- As Facilitator of the High-Level Presidential Initiative on Positive Masculinity in Leadership to End Violence Against Women and Girls, Mme Bineta Diop worked alongside former Heads of State and the African Union Gender Directorate to advocate for and secure the adoption of the landmark African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (2024) — a milestone that builds on her decades-long efforts to strengthen protection and accountability mechanisms for women and girls across Africa.
Her vision and persistence have redefined gender norms in Africa. By bridging activism and institutional reform, she ensured that women are recognized not only as victims of conflict or inequality, but as leaders, peacebuilders, and architects of Africa’s future.
Bineta Diop has been a leading advocate for women’s active participation and leadership in democratic governance and electoral processes across Africa. Guided by her Triple M Factor model – Mobilization, Mediation, and Monitoring – she has empowered women to shape and safeguard democratic transitions at every stage.
- In 1997 she led the first women-led election observation mission in Liberia, setting a precedent for women’s direct involvement in safeguarding democratic processes.
- In 2011, She brought Innovation in Electoral Peacebuilding by creating the Women’s Situation Room (WSR), a pioneering model of women-led election monitoring, mediation, and early warning to prevent electoral violence.
- The Women’s Situation Room model has been successfully replicated in Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and several other African countries, promoting peaceful and credible elections.
- Through Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), the African Union, and networks like FemWise-Africa and the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), she has strengthened gender inclusion in governance and democratic systems.
Bineta Diop has worked with and advised global institutions on women, peace, and security.
- In 2010, she co-chaired the UN Civil Society Advisory Group on Resolution 1325 with President Mary Robinson
- In 2011, she served on the UN Women Civil Society Advisory Group, and co-chaired the NGO Working Group on Peace in Geneva alongside the UN Human Rights Council.
- In 2014, she has also served on high-level AU assignments, including: Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan.
- In 2018, she served on the High-Level Committee investigating harassment against women at the AU Commission.
- In 2014, she co-chaired the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa and continues to champion women’s economic empowerment through WEE-FI (Women’s Economic Empowerment and Financial Inclusion).
Mme Diop founded the Pan-African Centre for Gender, Peace and Development (PAC), which builds the capacity of women and youth through training and advanced education. Notably, it runs a Master’s Degree in Gender and Peacebuilding in partnership with Université Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal) and University for Peace (Costa Rica).
She has lectured at prestigious universities, including Harvard, Sorbonne, and Sciences Po, inspiring future generations of global leaders.
Mme Diop has served on the boards of leading international organizations including:
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
- The Hunger Project
- Africa Center for Economic Transformation
- World Economic Forum Africa Regional Action Group
Bineta Diop’s extraordinary contributions to peace, women’s rights, and leadership have been honored worldwide. Her influence is reflected in prestigious global rankings, national distinctions, and international awards that celebrate her legacy of service.
- 2011 Time Magazine – 100 Most Influential People in the World, recognizing her global impact on peace and women’s empowerment.
- 2011 Prix Félix Houphouët-Boigny for the Search for Peace, awarded for her tireless efforts in conflict prevention and mediation.
- 2012 Forum des 100 – Switzerland, named among the 100 personalities shaping Swiss society.
- 2012 Doctor Honoris Causa from the University for Peace
- 2013 Swiss Award for her leadership in advancing human rights and development.
- 2013 French Legion of Honour – Knight (Chevalier), conferred at the residence of the French Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, in recognition of her lifelong advocacy for African women’s rights and dignity.
- 2013 Woman of Distinction Award – NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York.
- Chirac Foundation Special Jury Prize for Conflict Prevention (2013), honoring her role in advancing peace and reconciliation.
- 2014 Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Middlesex UK
- 2024 Doctor Honoris Causa, honorary Doctorate from the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
- 2025 Civil Society African Woman Pioneer Award by GIMAC
- 2025 African Union Commission Women, Peace and Security Award delivered by H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat
- 2025 The Broad Pool of Ideas Foundation (BPI) Iconic Leadership & Excellence Award, honoring her lifelong work for peace & women’s leadership in Africa.