Dar es Salaam – Parliamentarians across the Great Lakes region have been urged to turn commitments on women’s participation in peacebuilding into funded programmes and enforceable laws, as speakers at a regional conference warned that holding seats in public institutions did not necessarily give women influence over decisions.
The opening addresses at the Women Parliamentary Conference, which began on November 2 in Dar es Salaam, linked women’s exclusion from peace negotiations to weaknesses in public spending, government accountability and economic opportunity. Speakers called for legislators to scrutinise implementation rather than leave regional and international agreements as statements of intent.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said gains in representation had not removed the barriers separating women from meaningful power, particularly in decisions affecting communities living through conflict.
“A woman may have a seat at the decision-making table without having genuine influence over the decisions taken,” she said. “Our ambition must therefore be clear: to move from representation to influence and from influence to tangible results.”
The conference, organised by the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region in collaboration with Tanzania’s Parliament, runs until November 5 at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre.
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Organisers described it as the first women’s parliamentary conference dedicated to strengthening cooperation among women legislators across the region’s 12 countries.
Unfunded commitments
Ambassador Deo Minga, the parliamentary forum’s secretary-general, identified inadequate funding, limited reporting and weak accountability as obstacles to implementing the women, peace and security agenda.
He said national action plans did not always give parliaments clear responsibilities for their preparation, financing or oversight. That weakened the connection between commitments made by governments and the resources and scrutiny needed to fulfil them.
“Yet the distance between commitment and implementation remains considerable,” Minga said. “Too often national ambitions are constrained by insufficient funding, limited reporting and weak accountability mechanisms.”
He said the conference was intended to produce a Dar es Salaam declaration and a five-year parliamentary action plan, with measurable commitments and progress reported to the forum’s plenary assembly. These would give parliaments a clearer role alongside existing government-led regional initiatives.
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Minga urged legislators to use their lawmaking, budgetary and oversight powers to deliver results for women and girls. He also identified cultural practices and budget constraints as barriers to putting gender-responsive legislation into effect.
The discussions drew repeatedly on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, which calls for greater participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution and for protection of women and girls during armed conflict.
Huang Xia, the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for the Great Lakes region, said the challenge was to ensure sufficient financing, effective implementation and regular monitoring of such commitments. Parliaments, he said, could strengthen laws against gender-based violence, allocate resources for women’s protection and independence, and demand explanations for shortcomings.
He encouraged lawmakers to use the regional gender barometer, a tool for tracking progress and identifying gaps, in planning, budgeting and monitoring. His emphasis was on women’s ability to shape policy, rather than representation alone.
Conflict and protection
Suminwa placed women and girls in eastern DRC at the centre of her appeal, describing forced displacement, fear, disrupted schooling and the loss of relatives. She said women continued to care for families and sustain dialogue even as violence weakened community ties.
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“Their courage places an obligation upon us,” she said. “It must never serve as an excuse for our inaction.”
She called for civilian protection, respect for states’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a meaningful role for women in mediation, conflict prevention and reconstruction. Budgets, she said, should support girls’ education, healthcare, women’s livelihoods and assistance to displaced people.
“Let every delegation leave with clear priorities,” Suminwa said. “Let our parliaments monitor the progress achieved and let women affected by conflict be heard when we formulate solutions.”
Huang warned that survivors of sexual and gender-based violence still faced barriers to justice, healthcare and psychosocial support. He also identified technology-facilitated violence as a growing obstacle to women’s participation in political and public life.
He urged parliaments to incorporate and implement regional commitments, including the Kampala Declaration on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, within their national frameworks. His address linked protection from abuse with women’s ability to participate in decisions affecting their communities.
Economic security
The opening session also connected peace and security with women’s access to savings, credit and regional markets.
Adam Mihayo, chief executive of Tanzania Commercial Bank, the conference’s main sponsor, urged lawmakers to change lending and trading rules that disadvantaged women without conventional collateral.
“A bank can open a branch, but it is laws and policies that open doors,” he said.
Mihayo proposed allowing women to borrow against movable assets, warehouse receipts and business records rather than being excluded because they lacked land titles. He also called for simpler cross-border trade and payment rules so women could move goods and money safely and at lower cost.
He presented savings and business ownership as buffers against illness, drought and conflict, and argued that financial inclusion should form part of the region’s approach to security. His proposals put economic policy alongside the conference’s calls for representation and protection.
Minga said the programme would address women’s participation in peace processes, economic empowerment, natural-resource governance, refugees and displacement. The declaration and action plan were presented as intended conference outcomes, with their implementation to be carried back into national parliaments.
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For Suminwa, the test was whether the gathering would produce changes people could recognise beyond the meeting room.
“It is my earnest hope that Dar es Salaam will mark a turning point, not simply another conference, but the starting point for commitments whose implementation our people can see and measure,” she said.
