The Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), as the Secretariat of the #AswanForum, in partnership with the Government of New Zealand, organized an expert workshop titled: “Twenty-Five Years of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda: A Call to Revive Africa’s Leadership", on 9-10 April 2025.

The two-day workshop gathered voices from across Africa and beyond, including government officials, representatives of international and regional organizations, NGOs, and experts and practitioners, offering rich insights into the challenges and opportunities of advancing the WPS Agenda, to chart the way forward for the next 25 years of the Agenda.

The workshop concluded with a dynamic intergenerational panel, co-led by H.E. Ambassador Seif Kandeel, Director General of CCCPA, and H.E. Ambassador Amy Laurenson, New Zealand Ambassador to Egypt. The dialogue with young women focused on amplifying youth voices and priorities on the future of the WPS Agenda. Young voices on the panel emphasized the need to foster enabling environments for women’s leadership as well as usher attitudinal and mindset change.

The findings and recommendations from the workshop will feed into high-level, action-oriented discussions during the Fifth Edition of the Forum in October 2025, ahead of the WPS Agenda’s 25th anniversary.