For over four decades, Mme Bineta Diop has transformed ideas into institutions, and movements into measurable change. Her legacy is built on mobilizing women across Africa to lead in peacebuilding, governance, and development.
Tenure: 10 years
Mission: To advance the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda within AU member states and institutions.
Impact Highlights:
- Integrated gender perspectives into African Union peacekeeping and mediation missions.
- Developed continental frameworks for protecting women in conflict zones.
- Partnered with Regional Economics Communities to implement gender-sensitive security strategies.
- Collaborated with the African Union Women, Gender and Youth Directorate to champion the adoption of the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (CEVAWG)
Founded: 1994
Role: Founder & President (30+ years)
Mission: To foster, strengthen, and promote the leadership role of women in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and post-conflict recovery in Africa.
Impact Highlights:
- Worked in 25+ African countries affected by conflict.
- Trained thousands of women mediators and peacebuilders.
- Influenced over a dozen peace agreements to include gender provisions.
- Recognized by the African Union and United Nations as a model for grassroots-to-global advocacy.
Role: Convener
Mission: To enhance the leadership of African women in governance, peace, and sustainable development, while mentoring the next generation.
Impact Highlights:
- Chapters established in over 30 African countries.
- Mentorship network through the AWLN Intergenerational Dialogues (IGR) connecting emerging young women leaders and established leaders.
- Advocacy efforts influencing African Union and United Nations gender equality policies.
Founded: 2005 (Following consultative meetings initiated in 2002)
Role: Founding Chair
Mission: To advocate for gender equality and women’s rights in Africa, ensuring that women’s voices and priorities are central to African Union policies and frameworks.
Impact Highlights:
- Spearheaded the creation of the Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) in partnership with the African Union.
- Built a continental coalition of over 60 organizations advancing women’s rights and gender equality.
- Established GIMAC as a recognized civil society accountability mechanism for the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA).
- Strengthened collaboration between civil society, governments, and African Union institutions on gender mainstreaming and policy monitoring.
- Elevated women’s participation in African Union Summits and decision-making through regular pre-Summit consultative meetings and policy advocacy.Elevated women’s participation in African Union Summits and decision-making through regular pre-Summit consultative meetings and policy advocacy.
With the Empowering Women in Agriculture (EWA) programme, Mme Diop champions the role of rural women in building Africa’s food security.
- Supports women farmers’ access to resources, markets, and agricultural inputs.
- Builds capacity through training and cooperatives.
- Promotes fair policies and investment in women-led agriculture.
Mission: To advance African excellence in gender, peace, and development, providing training, research, and capacity-building programs that empower women and strengthen inclusive peacebuilding, governance, and post-conflict reconstruction across the continent.
Impact Highlights:
- Created a premier African center for training and research on conflict resolution, mediation, and gender-sensitive peacebuilding.
- Built a continental coalition of over 60 organizations advancing women’s rights and gender equality.
- Conducted national, regional, and international training workshops for grassroots women, military personnel, and policymakers, enhancing skills in negotiation, conflict resolution, civic education, and leadership.
- Partnered with UPEACE and Université Cheikh Anta Diop to deliver an advanced degree cultivating African experts in gender-focused peace and development.
- Compiled a registry of prominent African women to support institutions like the AU and UN in nominating qualified women for leadership roles.
- Engaged local women, including those with limited formal education, equipping them to meaningfully participate in mediation, negotiation, and conflict prevention activities.
- Partnered with UPEACE to provide ongoing professional development and networking for practitioners, researchers, and institutional actors in peacebuilding.
- Trained Sudanese women and other participants during sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and facilitated gender-sensitive interventions for military officers from across West and Central Africa.
- Launched the Women-Led Business (WLB) program in partnership with IE Business School, providing training, mentoring, and networking to women in Liberia, South Africa, DRC, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Senegal, enhancing their business, financial, and leadership skills, and enabling them to grow enterprises that contribute to local development and post-conflict recovery.
Bineta Diop has invested deeply in capacity building and knowledge transfer.
- Through the Pan-African Centre (PAC), she established 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 institutions such as Harvard, Sorbonne, and Sciences Po, inspiring future generations.
- In the private sector, she works with the World Economic Forum Africa Regional Action Group to promote women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
Mission: To unite women in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire for peace, reconciliation, and the advancement of women’s leadership during and after civil conflict, while promoting the implementation of UNSCR 1325.
Impact Highlights:
- Organized regional consultations and mediation efforts during active conflicts, creating safe spaces for women from multiple countries to engage in peacebuilding initiatives.
- Enabled women members to act as negotiators and conflict resolvers, reducing local tensions and fostering trust between communities and conflicting parties.
- Provided technical and advocacy support for the reintegration of women affected by conflict, including victims of gender-based violence, ensuring their inclusion in social, economic, and political rebuilding processes.
- Piloted a comprehensive approach in the Mano River Union (MRU) region to strengthen states’ commitment to gender equality in peace and security policies:
- Liberia: Hosted workshops with the Angie Brooks International Centre (ABIC) and the President’s office to enhance women’s participation in post-conflict governance and decision-making.
- Sierra Leone: Officially launched the NAP and conducted the first regional consultation on implementation, bringing together women from all MRU countries to advocate for full operationalization of UNSCR 1325.
- Guinea: Supported civil society election observation through MARWOPNET and assisted the Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender in developing a strategic plan for UNSCR 1325 implementation.
- Côte d’Ivoire: Provided technical expertise during national workshops with UNDP and partners, sharing best practices and lessons learned for gender-sensitive peace and security programming.
- Fostered the creation of a Regional Action Plan (RAP) by linking national initiatives across MRU countries, ensuring that strategies complement each other and reinforce cross-border peace and women’s leadership..
Mission: To promote women’s leadership in peacebuilding and reconciliation across the Great Lakes region, including DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda, building on lessons from West Africa and the principles of UNSCR 1325.
Impact Highlights:
- Organized regional consultations and mediations bringing women from multiple conflict-affected countries together, including the Nairobi mediation (DRC, 2002) and subsequent peace negotiations leading to women’s inclusion in interim governments.
- Women participants acted as informal negotiators, bridging divides between government and rebel groups, and ensuring their voices influenced final peace agreements.
- Used the resolution as a strategic framework and dialogue tool to legitimize women’s participation in negotiations, ensure representation in decision-making, and support the creation of national and regional action plans for women, peace, and security.
- Contributed to women obtaining ministerial positions in DRC and Burundi and reinforced gender parity principles in regional peace agreements and constitutions.
- Established situation rooms and consultative platforms linking women negotiators, civil society, and political leaders to monitor progress and maintain influence throughout peace processes.
- Adapted lessons from West Africa, fostering sub-regional cooperation among women in the Great Lakes, and supporting the integration of women’s agendas into broader reconstruction and development programs.
Mission: To empower Sudanese women and unite civil society actors for peace and reconciliation in Darfur, Khartoum, and South Sudan, ensuring women’s active participation in post-conflict processes and the broader peacebuilding agenda.
Impact Highlights:
- Created a unified platform of over 300 women’s organizations to coordinate advocacy and participation in peace processes.
- Enabled women’s voices to influence policy and peace talks addressing the Darfur conflict, in alignment with broader African and international peace frameworks.
- Provided evidence-based analysis of women’s organizations and peacebuilding efforts, forming the foundation for strategic planning and advocacy.
- Partnered with SWAFOD and supported by UK DFID and the Norwegian Government, promoting women’s engagement in reconciliation and conflict prevention.
- Facilitated the development of documents used to represent Darfuri women in regional and international peacebuilding forums, enhancing their visibility and impact in Sudan’s peace efforts.
– Explore my personal journey and the stories behind each initiative.