Stella Mystica Sabiiti
On Conflict Prevention and Mediation in the African Union
In This Video
Stella Mystica Sabiiti - on Advising the African Union on Conflict Prevention and Mediation
View Stella’s full oral history and transcript at the Georgetown University Library.
Stella Mystica Sabiiti is from Uganda, but she has been living and working outside the country since the late seventies because of political turmoil there. In 2002 Stella led a successful peace process between the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF2) rebel group and the current Government of Uganda. As a university student in 1976 she was abducted and tortured by soldiers of President Idi Amin. That experience shaped her future dedication to working with armed groups for peace. Following the overthrow of President Amin in 1979 the soldiers formed themselves into the very UNRFII she was appointed to facilitate in the peace process 26 years later. Stella went on to become a UN Women Advisor to the African Union (AU)’s Network of Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (FemWise-Africa). Stella previously served as Team Leader at the AU’s Peace and Security Department on a team of Experts to operationalize the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) from 2005, and in 2012 she moved to the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) in the Bureau of the Chairperson as a peace and security expert.