Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture and Children Services, Hanna Wendot Cheptumo, has called on the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to institutionalize the participation of women and youth in all regional peacebuilding processes.
Speaking during the IGAD Regional Forum for Eminent Personalities and Leaders for Peace, CS Cheptumo emphasized that sustainable peace in the Horn of Africa can only be achieved through inclusive, community-driven approaches that reflect voices from all generations and genders.
“In our IGAD region, conflict has fractured families, displaced communities, and eroded hope. Yet women and youth have long served as unofficial diplomats. Their lived experience and community rootedness offer an untapped reservoir for regional stability,” Cheptumo stated.
She highlighted Kenya’s own progress through its 2019 National Policy on Gender and Development, which has mainstreamed gender inclusivity in political, economic, and security structures. Drawing from Kenya’s post-election reconciliation efforts, she cited women-led mediation as a powerful model for rebuilding trust and preventing violence at the grassroots level.
“These women-led interventions are textbook examples of how collective wisdom, grounded in community trust, can prevent future conflicts,” she said, also praising youth-led civil society programs that have trained young mediators, particularly young women, in conflict-affected areas.
Cheptumo challenged IGAD to go beyond symbolic representation and embed women and youth into Track II Mediation and all informal diplomacy processes, arguing that any peace effort that excludes them “ignores half our region’s wisdom.”
She proposed the formation of a regional roster comprising women, men, youth, and elders trained in gender-sensitive negotiation, psychosocial support, and trauma-informed facilitation.
Additionally, the CS urged IGAD to recognize the value of cultural heritage, traditional practices, and the arts as effective tools for dialogue and reconciliation. “These time-tested mechanisms have long served as bridges between communities. Let us elevate them in our peacebuilding toolkit,” she said.
Concluding her address, Cheptumo called for a redefinition of peacebuilding across the region as an inclusive and collective endeavor. “When we bring together our daughters and sons, our mothers and fathers, we build peace that draws from the full spectrum of human experience and insight,” she declared.
Written By Rodney Mbua
