Govt calls for inclusion of youth and women in peace processes
By Nancy Marende, July 24, 2025The government has called for the inclusion of under-represented groups in the peace process to build a legitimate and durable peace in the region.
Speaking during the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Regional Forum for Eminent Personalities and Leaders for Peace in Nairobi on July 24, 2025, the Principal Secretary of the State Department of Foreign Affairs, Korir Sing’Oei, stated that peace cannot exist when segments of society are excluded.
“I wish to emphasise the need to ensure that women, youth, and other under-represented groups are included in peace processes.
“The wisdom of eminent personalities should be combined with intergenerational dialogue and inclusive consultations to foster legitimate and durable peace. Peacebuilding cannot succeed if large segments of society remain excluded,” he said.
On her part, Cabinet Secretary Hannah Cheptumo of Gender, Culture, the Arts, and Heritage stated that the inclusion of women in peacekeeping initiatives will strengthen the region’s preventive diplomacy.
“The genius of this IGAD council of eminent personalities is that by harnessing the essence of Track II, cultural arts, and our shared heritage, we are leveraging trust, familiarity, and rootedness, the spaces precisely where women and youth excel.
“Including them is therefore not about meeting quotas; it is about harnessing our region’s full collective wisdom for preventive diplomacy and peacebuilding,” she said.
“When we bring together our daughters and sons and our mothers and fathers, we build peace that draws from the complete spectrum of human experience and insight,” she added.
IGAD
The IGAD Regional Forum for Eminent Personalities and Leaders for Peace brought together respected elders, former heads of state, scholars, and civic leaders across the region.
IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu called on the region’s eminent persons to play a pivotal role in preserving the peace gains made across the region and advancing the mission of silencing the guns.
Similarly, he emphasised the critical need for wisdom, courage, and unity from these respected figures to ensure that IGAD’s positive strides in conflict resolution are not only maintained but strengthened.
“We desperately need you to preserve and sustain IGAD’s positive outcomes in silencing the guns. We need you to diminish the thunder of conflict into the whisper of reconciliation, ensuring that where once hatred divided our peoples, hope shall unite them; where drums of war echoed across our lands, the songs of children shall ring forth in chorus,” he stated.
He called on the eminent persons to draw upon their experience and gravitas to bring about a new dawn, where the light of lasting peace replaces the shadows of violence.
“Drawing upon your wisdom, your firm hand, and your gravitas, where once violence’s shadow darkened our horizon, the dawn of lasting peace shall illuminate the path forward, not only for this generation but for all generations yet to come who shall feast upon the fruits of our courage and our unwavering determination to choose dialogue over discord, unity over division, and the enduring triumph of our shared humanity over the fleeting temptations of conflict.”