PSC/PR/BR.1(CDLXXVI) Page 1 PRESS STATEMENT The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 476th meeting held on 16 December 2014, devoted an Open Session to the theme: “Sources of Instability in Africa: Root Causes and Responses: Focusing on the issue of Women, Peace and Security’’. Statements were made during the session by AU Member States, bilateral and multilateral partners and international organizations/institutions, as well as by civil society organisations (CSOs) and women’s organizations. Council took note of the presentations made by Ms. Bineta Diop, the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the Commission on Women, Peace and Security, the AU Department of Political Affairs and statements made by AU Member States, bilateral and multilateral partners and international organization/institutions, as well as by CSOs and women’s organizations. Council recalled its earlier communiqués and press statements relating to the issue of women and children in conflict situations and the UN Security Council resolution 1325. Council and Participants welcomed the presentations made by the representatives of the CSOs and women’s organizations and emphasized the important role these organizations and other non-state actors play in advancing the agenda on women, peace and security in Africa. Council and Participants reiterated the fact that a focus on women in peace and security processes brings into sharp focus the wider human security dimensions of the AU Peace and Security Agenda, as articulated in the Solemn Declaration on a Common African Defense and Security Policy (CADSP), adopted by the 2nd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held on 28 February 2004, to the extent that conflict in Africa cannot be delinked from the challenges of reducing poverty and promoting health, development and education, especially as the AU celebrated, in May 2013, its OAU/AU 50th Anniversary of tackling these very challenges. Council and Participants recognized the growing evidence that increasing the participation of women in peace processes and other critical sectors greatly enhance conflict prevention and resolution, post-conflict rehabilitation processes and responses to the needs of women and the population at large. In this regard, Council and Participants stressed the need to seize every opportunity to mainstream gender into the African peace and security agenda, increase the representation of women in decision-making processes and promote women’s empowerment in the economic sector. Council and Participants took note of the ongoing efforts of the Commission and the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the Commission on Women, Peace and Security, in bringing the issue of women and children at the center of its work with a view to developing strategies at the continental, regional and national levels, to facilitate monitoring of the situation of