ANGOLA
ANGOLA
Angola's Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan: Status Update
Angola’s first National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security, covering 2017–2020, marked an important milestone in advancing women’s participation in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and post‑conflict recovery. Since its conclusion, stakeholders have awaited confirmation of a successor plan.
Development of a Second NAP
Angola has officially confirmed that it is developing a second WPS National Action Plan.
In recent statements delivered at the United Nations, Angola’s representatives noted that the new plan is intended to:
- Consolidate progress made under the 2017–2020 NAP
- Address remaining gaps in women’s participation in peace and security
- Strengthen institutional mechanisms for gender‑responsive peacebuilding
- Align national commitments with regional and global WPS frameworks
No Published Updated NAP Yet
Despite ongoing development, no updated NAP has been publicly released.
There is no official 2021–2024 or 2025–2029 version available through:
- Government decrees
- Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion publications
- UN or AU WPS repositories
- Civil society consultation records
The 2017–2020 NAP therefore remains the most recent formally adopted plan.
Expected Focus Areas of the Upcoming NAP
Based on Angola’s recent policy statements and regional commitments, the forthcoming NAP is likely to emphasise:
- Women’s leadership in conflict prevention and mediation
- Protection of women and girls in humanitarian and post‑conflict settings
- Gender‑responsive security sector reform
- Strengthened data collection and monitoring frameworks
- Integration of WPS priorities into national development and governance strategies
Angola's most recent NAP was launched in 2017 for the period 2017-2020.
Objectives/Aims of the 2017-2020 NAP:
The NAP has one overarching General Objective followed by six Strategic Objectives.
General Objective:
“Recognizing that peace is closely linked to equality between women and men and sustainable development, and affirming the important role that women play in preventing and resolving conflicts and consolidating peace, Angola's WPS National Action Plan intends to contribute to the increased participation of women in decision-making processes and their full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and safety. It is also intended to contribute to the eradication of human rights violations of women in conflict situations, including sexual violence affecting women and girls in aggravated forms, and trafficking in women and children.”
Strategic Objectives:
1. Increase women’s participation and integrating gender equality at all stages of the peace-building processes, and at all levels of decision-making.
2. Ensure training of all people involved in the peace-building process, both on gender equality and gender-based violence; also training on other relevant aspects of UN resolution number 05 of 1325 and 1820.
3. Promote and protect the respect for the human rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict areas, economic empowerment, education, and civil society, taking into account the need for:
∙ The Prevention and Elimination of Gender-based Violence and Sexual Violence;
∙ Promotion of Women’s Empowerment.
4. Deepen and disseminate knowledge about the topic of “Women, Peace and Safety”, including the formation and sensitization of the Ministerial Departments, Civil Society and Decision-Making Bodies.
5. Promote the participation of civil society in the Implementation of Resolution number 1325 (2000) regarding Women, Peace and Security.
6. Budgeting from a Gender Perspective.
The NAP has one overarching General Objective followed by six Strategic Objectives.
General Objective:
“Recognizing that peace is closely linked to equality between women and men and sustainable development, and affirming the important role that women play in preventing and resolving conflicts and consolidating peace, Angola's WPS National Action Plan intends to contribute to the increased participation of women in decision-making processes and their full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and safety. It is also intended to contribute to the eradication of human rights violations of women in conflict situations, including sexual violence affecting women and girls in aggravated forms, and trafficking in women and children.”
Strategic Objectives:
- Increase women’s participation and integrating gender equality at all stages of the peace-building processes, and at all levels of decision-making.
- Ensure training of all people involved in the peace-building process, both on gender equality and gender-based violence; also training on other relevant aspects of UN resolution number 05 of 1325 and 1820.
- Promote and protect the respect for the human rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict areas, economic empowerment, education, and civil society, taking into account the need for: The Prevention and Elimination of Gender-based Violence and Sexual Violence; Promotion of Women’s Empowerment.
- Deepen and disseminate knowledge about the topic of “Women, Peace and Safety”, including the formation and sensitization of the Ministerial Departments, Civil Society and Decision-Making Bodies.
- Promote the participation of civil society in the Implementation of Resolution number 1325 (2000) regarding Women, Peace and Security.
- Budgeting from a Gender Perspective.
Commentary:
This NAP has clearly articulated goals especially with regard to increasing women’s participation in security forces, which includes the introduction of a target of 40% of decision-making and leadership roles to be held by women in ”bodies of Defence and Security”, and international missions. The introductory section details progress that has been made so far with key statistics about women’s participation in different sectors, and uses this framework as a data-driven lens to articulate goals for participation moving into the future. It is also effective in that it identifies key agencies in charge of implementing each objective, together with timelines and key indicators of progress.
There does not appear to be any further NAP in development since 2020.
Civil society engagement in development of the 2017-2020NAP:
The Angolan NAP states it has civil society engagement as one of its high level objectives, which it sees as being critical to ensuring civil society participation is central to implementation. However the extent to which the government is committed to incorporating the voice of civil society is unclear. References to civil society organisations in the “Table egarding the Actions to be Implemented” are limited to “NGOs and churches.”
Women’s role in peacekeeping and the security sector:
The NAP sets out a clear target for 2020 for 40% of leadership and decision-making roles in the Government’s Defence and Security sectors to be held by women. The Table of Actions to be Implemented also targets for “60% of the population to be informed about Women, Peace and Security” and “100% of the topic regarding Women Peace and Safety (to be)included in the courses taught by the IDN, Military Academies and Educational Institutions of MININT” (ie the Angolan government’s military and defence forces). It has not been possible to find data relating to whether these targets were achieved by the end of 2020.
UN Peacekeeping statistics:
Individual Police 2 Males, 1 Females
Total 2 Males, 1 Female
2025 October Data (totals only available)
Individual Police 2
Total 2
References:
Angola's WPS NAP 2017-2020: angola-nap-2017-english_1.pdf(un.org)
https://wpsfocalpointsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Angola-2017-2020.pdf
Contributions of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type (March 2025): 05-Missions Detailed By Country
https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/05_missions_detailed_by_country_84_march_2025.pdf
UN data 2026
Information above in text from NAP, Chat GPT / Co pilot AI sources 2026 searches