Angola adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2017 for the period 2017-2020. The NAP was developed by the Ministry for Family and Promotion of Women and the Ministry of National Defense and Interior. The NAP does not mention civil society involvement in the NAP development process, but does include civil society as a responsible entity for the implementation of certain objectives. The NAP has six overall objectives, including increasing women’s participation in peacebuilding processes; providing women and girls with training on peacebuilding processes, including on gender equality; promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings; raising awareness about the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda; and gender-responsive budgeting. Each objective has corresponding actions as well as an allocated budget.
Angola reported on the implementation of its NAP and the WPS Agenda in its national reporting (available only in Portuguese) for Beijing+25 and in preparation for CSW64 (2020).
Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975, following a 15-year war for liberation. Women played a key role in the liberation war through the Organisation of Angolan Women and the Independent League for Angolan Women. Angola also experienced a civil war, which lasted from 1975 until 2002, and ended with the signing of the Luena Memorandum of Understanding. Women were excluded from the peace process, and despite the existence of a disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) program, women combatants were not provided with any benefits. These long-term armed conflicts have had a disproportionate impact on women, as women constitute approximately eighty percent of the internally displaced people.
At the multilateral level, Angola most recently served as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2015-2016.
Specific civil society organisations have not been explicitly mentioned as being involved in the development phase. Nevertheless, one of the many objectives of the NAP is to increase the participation of civil society in the implementation of UNSCR 1325 by educating civil society on the WPS Agenda.
WILPF does not have a country section in Angola and therefore was not involved in the development process of Angola’s NAP.
On an institutional level civil society are included as responsible agents for the implementation of the NAP. The Ministries that created the NAP along with other relevant Ministerial Departments are included as the main responsible actors for the implementation of the NAP.
Civil society organisations in coordination with other entities will form part of the monitoring bodies of the implementation of the NAP. For certain activities, civil society organisations are included as participants in achieving certain objectives.
The implementation period of the Angolan NAP is four years (2017-2020).
The objectives for the Angolan NAP are organised by the six pillars below:
Each pillar has different actions assigned. For example, Pillar 1 “Increase the participation of women and integrate the gender equality dimension into all phases of peacebuilding, including at all levels of decision-making” includes the following actions:
To achieve each objective, the NAP has different indicators assigned. For example, Objective 1 that aims to “Increase the participation of women and integrate the gender equality dimension into all phases of peacebuilding, including at all levels of decision-making” includes the following indicators or desired result:
1.1 Promote at the internal level, the increase in the number of women at all levels of decision-making in the defense and security forces
1.2 Regularly disclose vacant positions in international organisations in order to promote the appointment of women to positions in office, decision-making and others in international organisations to support the construction of peace and security
1.3 Promote increased participation of women in international peacekeeping, humanitarian aid and crisis management missions
1.4 Promote the participation and training of women in the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and Community of Portuguese Language Countries, electoral observation missions
1.5 Promote the integration of gender equality issues and the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls on high-profile forces, including in conflict, post-conflict settings and international peacekeeping and security missions
1.6 Guarantee the existence of psychological support to the members and their families before, during and after participating in peacekeeping and technical-military cooperation
1.7 Awareness campaigns that support women’s participation in all spheres of national life
1.8 Seminars and gender sensitisation for decision-makers in the defense and security and justice bodies
1.9 Professional training of women in defense and security and justice bodies
1.10 Spread the contents of UNSCR 1325 to the youth
1.11 Promote the participation of young women in the youth forum events of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
For the policies recommended for the period of 2017-2020, the implementation of NAP will be based on a system of data collection, analysis and dissemination, in close coordination with the National Institute of Statistics. Regarding monitoring and evaluation, the Ministry of Family and Promotion of Women will be assisted by the Ministerial Departments of National Defense and Interior (Deputy Coordinators) and the other Ministerial Departments as social agents in order to ensure a greater intersectoral and interdisciplinary approach to implementing these policies.
The responsibility of coordinating the central and local level are assumed by the Ministerial Department of the Family and Promotion of Women, requiring a strong intersectoral and interdisciplinary link, involving and responsible actors such as:
The Angolan NAP includes an allocated budget. The implementation of the national action plan is based on the allocation of resources through sectoral budgets. The general budget of the state should explain the percentage allocated to the different ministerial departments.
The NAP does not address disarmament issues. The NAP instead focuses on the Government’s attempt to restructure the way women view themselves as active participants in the country’s defense and security sectors.
Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.
Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.
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