Gender Based Violence remains a major issue all around the world exacerbated in conflict and post-conflict settings where sexual violence is used as a weapon of war and where banalised violence encourages the perpetration of GBV within all components of the society, including homes, schools, workplace, etc.

 The Regional Advocacy Strategy (RAS) aims at bringing faith-based actors and other secular actors together to join efforts in advocating towards the implementation of UNSCR 1325. However, rather than addressing UNSCR 1325 directly, the RAS adopts a contextual and innovative approach.

The strategy identifies African systems, institutions and policies related to UNSCR 1325 principles and addresses them to create an African solution to prevent and protect children and youth from sexual violence and GBV and to guarantee effective women’s and girl’s participation. It is of utmost importance to bring faith-based actors with positive voices together to advocate specifically for the agenda of Women, Peace and Security and in general for the achievement of women’s rights in order to counterweight an important international faith-based lobby slowing down any progress on women’s rights. Faith-based actors are essential stakeholders to overcome GBV because of their strategic position in societies so their capacities need to be built to speak out and ask for sustainable change in societal, economic and political systems.