Nouakchott, Mauritania — The Youth and Women Summit, held on the second day of the Sixth African Conference for the Promotion of Peace, delivered a powerful and inspiring message: Africa’s path to lasting peace and resilience depends on the leadership, empowerment, and inclusion of women and youth.
Organized under the theme “Makers of the Desired Hope,” the summit brought together prominent leaders, advocates, and changemakers who highlighted the essential role of women and young people in shaping a more peaceful and stable future across the continent.
Opening the Youth and Women Summit, His Excellency Sheikh Al-Mahfouz bin Bayyah, Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace and General Coordinator of the African Conference for the Promotion of Peace, called for a renewed African narrative built on trust, responsibility, and action.
“Let this platform be an open invitation,” he declared. “An invitation for youth to step forward with their words and ideas. An invitation for women to lead the path of balance and building. And an invitation for all of us to shape together a new African narrative of hope and action.”
His words set the tone for a summit focused on empowering those who represent Africa’s greatest strength — its people.
Her Excellency Hajia Hafsat Kollere Buni, First Lady of Yobe State, Nigeria, delivered a deeply moving intervention highlighting the suffering endured by women in regions affected by terrorism and insecurity.
She spoke about the violence, trauma, and injustices many women have faced, emphasizing the urgent need to protect their dignity, safety, and rights.
At the same time, she stressed that women are not only victims of conflict but essential actors in rebuilding communities and restoring stability. She highlighted the efforts undertaken to support women, strengthen their protection, and ensure their full participation in peacebuilding and national recovery.
Ndaté Dieng, Lawyer and Human Rights Advocate and Vice President of the African Conference for Peace (Geneva), emphasized that women’s leadership is essential to building sustainable peace. She highlighted that when women are included in decision-making processes, societies become more resilient, institutions stronger, and peace more deeply rooted.
Her intervention reflected a growing recognition that empowering women is not only a matter of equality, but a strategic necessity for achieving lasting peace and stability.
Providing a concrete example of this transformation, Khadjouna Lakhlifa, Communication Specialist at the Dakhla Oued-Eddahab Region, shared the success of a regional women’s economic empowerment program that has supported more than 4,000 women. Through training, technical support, and financial assistance, women have been able to develop income-generating activities and strengthen their economic independence.
She emphasized that empowering women economically strengthens families, reinforces community resilience, and contributes directly to sustainable development and peace.
Karima Rhanem, President of the International Center for Diplomacy, highlighted the importance of strengthening resilience in the face of emerging challenges, particularly climate change. She emphasized that environmental pressures such as water scarcity, desertification, and resource degradation are increasingly contributing to instability across Africa.
She stressed that women and youth play a vital role in strengthening climate resilience, managing natural resources sustainably, and developing innovative solutions that support peace and long-term stability.
She also presented key recommendations to advance peacebuilding efforts, including ensuring meaningful participation of women and youth in decision-making processes, investing in leadership development, strengthening community resilience, supporting locally led peace initiatives, and promoting dialogue and responsibility in the digital space.
Huguette Umutoni, Co-founder, HERitage Collective, emphasized the importance of ensuring that women and youth are meaningfully included in leadership and decision-making spaces.
She noted that while their importance is widely acknowledged, their presence remains limited in the rooms where policies and peace frameworks are defined.
Ensuring their structural inclusion, she stressed, is essential to building peace processes that are effective, inclusive, and sustainable.
Hanane Abdallah, Journalist and Media Consultant, addressed the societal dimensions of empowerment, emphasizing that women’s capacity to lead is undeniable. She highlighted the importance of building trust in women’s leadership and ensuring that youth are given opportunities to contribute meaningfully to society.
She emphasized that empowering youth strengthens social cohesion and helps prevent instability, enabling them to become active contributors to peace.
The summit also provided a platform for young men and women from across Africa to present inspiring peace initiatives and community-based projects.
Their ideas reflected innovation, determination, and a shared commitment to building more inclusive, resilient, and peaceful societies.
Together, the voices heard in Nouakchott demonstrated that peace is not built in isolation, but through inclusion, empowerment, and collective leadership.
The Youth and Women Summit affirmed a powerful and hopeful reality: Africa’s future peace will be shaped by its women and youth — not only as participants, but as leaders and makers of the desired hope.
