AU special envoy lauds Seychelles’ commitment to women in leadership |08 October 2026

Seychelles has been commended for the significant number of women serving in key leadership positions across critical sectors, including civil aviation, transport, tourism, industry and the environment.

The praise came from Ambassador Liberata Malamula, Special Envoy of the African Union (AU) Commission on Women, Peace and Security, during a courtesy call on the Minister for Social Affairs, Family & Equality, Pamela Charlette, on October 6.

Ambassador Malamula is in Seychelles on an official visit ahead of the launch of the country’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) 2026-2031, which took place yesterday, October 7 (see main story on front page).

With the launch of the plan, Seychelles becomes the 38th country in Africa and the 10th member state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to develop a national action plan on Women, Peace and Security.

The launch marks an important milestone in Seychelles’ commitment to advancing the meaningful participation of women in peace, security, governance, crisis response and national resilience. It also demonstrates the country’s commitment to translating the global Women, Peace and Security agenda into a nationally owned framework that reflects its specific context and priorities.

Ambassador Malamula described the development of the national action plan as a remarkable achievement for a small island state and commended the government for the political will and high-level support demonstrated throughout the process.

For her part, Minister Charlette highlighted the need for continued support in implementing key actions under the plan. She underscored the importance of technical expertise to further strengthen the framework, as well as resources and tools needed to support programme implementation, skills development and advocacy initiatives.

She added that the Ministry of Social Affairs, Family & Equality is counting on the continued support of the African Union and UN Women, not only in coordinating and strengthening implementation across sectors, but also in mobilising commitment to advancing the rights and empowerment of women.

For Seychelles, Women, Peace and Security is about recognising that women’s contributions are essential to maintaining peaceful, inclusive and resilient communities and institutions. The framework also provides an opportunity to strengthen women’s participation in key areas such as peacebuilding and social cohesion, conflict prevention, the fight against gender-based violence, the protection and empowerment of women and girls, and sustainable national development.

This is particularly important because achieving gender equality is not the responsibility of a single ministry or institution. Effective implementation of the WPS agenda requires the active participation of government agencies, security and law enforcement institutions, civil society organisations, development partners and other stakeholders.

Minister Charlette said the ministry is looking forward to seeing the impact of the national action plan at both community and grassroots levels.

During the courtesy call, Minister Charlette was also formally invited to join the Global Network of Focal Points for Women, Peace and Security, which brings together representatives from 111 countries that have developed national action plans on Women, Peace and Security.

Also present at the meeting were secretary of state Linda William-Melanie, principal secretaries Mike Morel and Beryl Payet, and representatives accompanying Ambassador Malamula, including Dr Sally Wangamati, Josiane Darwatoye from the AU office, and Idil Absiye from the UN Women regional office.

Press release – Ministry of Social Affairs, Family & Equality