Liaison Office to AU and UNECA

The Liaison Office to the AU and UNECA is a dedicated office based in Addis Ababa for developing closer and continuous partnerships between the UN Women and the African Union. The Office liaises on all matters related to gender equality and the empowerment of women, contributing to stronger institutional dialogue and improved coordination on gender equality in Africa. Maintaining a consistent engagement with AU and UNECA is critical in achieving women’s economic empowerment, sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa, as AUC drives the continental development and integration agenda in the continent. Our vision is to help create an enabling environment where continental governing institutions are more accountable to the women and girls of Africa.  

Our vision 

The UN Women Liaison Office has a long-standing commitment towards women’s empowerment agenda, placing gender equality and the empowerment of women at the core of its work across the African continent. Guided by the AU Strategy for Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment and Agenda 2063, the Liaison Office aims to fulfil its vision by focusing on four continental priorities that seek to address the main gender equality challenges in relation to the AU: 

• Developing an effective system for monitoring and tracking progress on implementation of continental gender equality frameworks 
• Creating platforms for civil society and women’s voices so that they can influence progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment at continental level
• Strengthening UN system coordination on gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Developing relationships and networks of producers and users of gender related knowledge

Our programmes

Spotlight initiative

The Spotlight Initiative, launched in 2017, is a global partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. In Africa, the Spotlight Initiative is deploying large-scale investments to eliminate gender-based violence against women and girls through the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP). 

African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI)

The African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) was commissioned by UN Women and the African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

African Women Leaders Network (AWLN)

The African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) is a ground-breaking movement of African women leaders. It is implemented with the support of the Office of the AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace, and Security, and of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).