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  1. Press releases and Statements
  2. Announcement: An Interim NWI Board of Directors has been appointed

Announcement: An Interim NWI Board of Directors has been appointed

We welcome this new leadership group to guide the organization through the next stages of organizational transition and renewal.

Posted on August 12, 2021
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Aruna Rao, Interim Board Chair

Aruna Rao is a globally recognized expert on gender equality, development and women’s rights.  In her over 40 years of experience particularly in Asia and Africa, Dr. Rao has combined advocacy and cutting-edge research on gender equality and development with leadership and management to forge better development results for women and men. In 2001, she co-founded and for 17 years led, Gender at Work, an international, feminist network committed to ending discrimination against women and advancing cultures of equality. Early in her career, she pioneered new approaches to gender equality and institutional change working in BRAC in Bangladesh. In 2002, she co-created the widely used Gender at Work Analytical Framework which illustrates the interlinkages between various domains of change and highlights discriminatory social norms and deep structures that are held in place by power dynamics in organizations and communities. Over the course of her career, she has worked at multiple levels – from global level advocacy initiatives including on UN reform and gender and democratic governance and global evaluations of gender mainstreaming, to institutional change efforts in national and international development organizations, to research on human rights and institutional change, public sector reform and on implementing gender equality policies and practices in private sector companies, to grassroots engagements with rural poor women.  She has chaired the Boards of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Most recently she has co-developed and taught courses for UN Women and master’s courses on transformational leadership for gender equality. She co-hosts the Gender at Work podcast series, Rethinking Feminist Transformational Strategies (www.genderatworkpodcast.org). Among her publications are Gender at Work: Theory and Practice for 21st Century Organizations (Routledge, 2016), Advancing Gender Equality in Bangladesh (Routledge, 2017), and Gender at Work: Organizational Change for Equality (Kumarian Press, 1999).

Roberta Clark, Member

Roberta Clarke is an activist for social justice and gender equality. She is the Chair, Executive Committee, International Commission of Jurists, and Chair of the Coalition against Domestic Violence, Trinidad and Tobago. She has led UN Women Regional Offices in East and Southern Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Caribbean. Prior to her career at the United Nations, she was a lawyer in Trinidad and Tobago. Roberta Clarke has extensive experience with international and national human rights organisations and in civil society engagement. She has written on violence against women in the Caribbean, human rights, law and development. She is married with four children.

Sarah Jewell, Member

Sarah Jewell is the Executive Director of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA, a New York-based non-profit dedicated to building a global community of support for education and peacebuilding in Liberia. Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA also shares the teachings of Leymah Gbowee who has dedicated her life to women’s rights and peacebuilding and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.

Sarah Jewell is an experienced policy advisor and advocate with a particular interest in women’s rights, youth affairs, and social justice. She is from Australia where she worked in the non-profit sector, in the Australian civil service and as the National Policy and Research Director of Anglicare Australia, a network of over 30 social service agencies across Australia.
She has a Masters of Philosophy in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin where she specialized in peace, feminist theory and human rights.

Dilar Kaya, Member

Dildar Kaya is passionate about advancing sustainable development through promoting mental health, women’s rights, combating GBV, and promoting minority and human rights. Her social and political interests have led her to work with various organizations such as Oxfam, the German Children and Youth Foundation, the Turkish Human Rights Association, UNICEF, and SEED Foundation.

She is currently working as a Senior Program Officer for a developmental organization in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on promoting social, educational, and economic development and humanitarian assistance. With an educational background as a Psychologist, her current emphasis lies in the recovery and reintegration of ISIS survivors and ensuring adequate access to Mental Health services in the KRI.
Dildar Kaya is a One Young World Ambassador and holds a fellowship from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. Besides, she is a fellow of the transatlantic program for young minority leaders by the Johns Hopkins Universities American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.

Find out more about the Nobel Women's Initiative's transition and renewal process here

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Press releases and Statements

June 19, 2025

Ceasefire Now — Nobel Peace Laureates Urge an End to the Devastating War Between Israel and Iran

June 18, 2025

Nobel Laureates Back the Ban on Antipersonnel Landmines

June 16, 2025

Iranian Civil Society Says No to War

June 11, 2025

Report on Delegation to West Bank and Jordan: Spotlight on Palestinian Women’s Resistance

May 13, 2025

Nobel Women’s Initiative Urges Media to Center Women’s Voices in Gaza and the West Bank

May 8, 2025

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Outline Conditions for a People-Centered Peace in Ukraine

April 15, 2025

Women Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Bear Witness to Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Illegal Occupation in Palestine

March 13, 2025

Nobel Laureates Call for Full and Unconditional Release of Narges Mohammadi and All Political Prisoners

March 7, 2025

Joint Nobel Laureate Appeal to Seize Frozen Russian State Assets

January 22, 2025

The International Community Must Stop Overlooking the DRC

December 20, 2024

Women, Life, Freedom
زن, زندگی, آزادی
Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

October 11, 2024

2024 Nobel Peace Prize Honors Survivors of Nuclear Weapons

More — Press releases and Statements

Recent Media Coverage

Iran's 'paper tiger' leadership will fall, predicts Nobel peace laureate Ebadi. Reuters. 25 June 2025.

What Peace Means for Ukrainians. Project Syndicate. 15 June 2025.

‘If we stop fighting we will cease to exist,’ says Ukrainian Nobel laureate. CNN's Amanpour and Company. 13 June 2025.

Oleksandra Matviichuk 2022 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient: “We are witnessing the collapse of the world order before our eyes.” EU Today. 11 June 2025.

Irish lawyer-turned-peace campaigner calls for public to lobby TDs after ‘chilling’ West Bank visit. Irish Independent. 17 May 2025.

‘So much gratitude in West Bank for Irish solidarity’: How Nobel Prize-winners are raising Palestinians’ plight. The Irish Times. 08 May 2025.

Maria Ressa says Americans must ‘hold the line’ against autocracy. GBH. 01 May 2025.

‘It makes me want to scream’: Nobel peace prize winner horrified by planned exits from landmine treaty. The Guardian. 27 April 2025.

As Trump Attacks CBS, Maria Ressa Warns He Is Following Philippine Model to Crack Down on Free Press. Democracy Now. 24 April 2025.

UNRWA students in Jordan share hopes, dreams with women Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The Jordan Times. 22 April 2025.

Nobel Peace Laureates Conclude Jordan Visit with Meeting with HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal. ARDD. 21 April 2025.

Women Nobel Peace Laureates and Jordanian Human Rights Defenders Call for Collective Action for Peace and Security. ARDD. 16 April 2025.

Women Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Travel to Meet Palestinian Women. Fox4 News. 15 April 2025.

Tawakkol Karman from Amman: The Palestinian Woman is a Symbol of Resilience and We Must Continue Documenting to Expose the Crimes of the Occupation. Amman Net. 13 April 2025.

Negotiations over Ukraine are missing a human dimension. Financial Times. 03 March 2025.

All the women who have won the Nobel Peace Prize—and why their role is so important. Tatler. 09 October 2024.

Four Nobel Laureates Call To End Iran’s Execution Spree. Iran International Newsroom. 16 May 2024.

Women Without Weapons: “Rebels With A Cause”. The Urban Activist. 20 February 2024.

Einer Maschine kann man sich nicht ergeben. Tagesspiegel Background. 16 February 2024. 

Nobel Peace Prize laureates Maria Ressa, Tawakkol Karman meet Pope Francis. Global Affairs. 6 December 2023.

Gaza needs a Cease-Fire, not a Cessation of Aid. Informed Comment. 16 November 2023.

Cease fire, not aid. Waging NonViolence. 13 November 2023.

Only democracy can solve this problem - a conversation with Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. Waging NonViolence. 3 November 2023.  

Activist wins Nobel Peace Prize. CTV National News. 6 October 2023.

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins Nobel peace prize. The Guardian. 6 October 2023.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi reflects on decades of resistance against Iran’s regime. The Globe and Mail. 6 October 2023.

Nobel laureate Ebadi hopes Mohammadi's will bring equality to Iranian women. Reuters. 6 October 2023.

Ukraine joins calls to overhaul “dysfunctional” UN Security Council. Euromaidan Press. 19 September 2023.

Dr. Areeg Abdalmagid Abass: An Urgent Perspective on Sudan. Girls Globe. 12 September 2023.

When Bangladesh PM Shows Growing Enmity Against Prof. Yunus. Pressenza International Press Agency. 3 September 2023.

Leymah Gbowee Urges Voters to Stop Rewarding Warlords With Votes. South Africa Today. 22 August 2023.

Liberia Marks 20 Years Since the End of Its Civil War. Will a War Crimes Court Ever Be Created? Pass Blue. 21 August 2023.

Recognizing the Role of Women in Fighting for Peace in Ukraine. Women's Enews. 23 February 2023. 

How Ukrainian Women Are Working to Safeguard Human Rights in the Face of War. Ms Magazine. 23 February 2023. 

Jody Williams: "Se están usando minas terrestres en la invasión de Ucrania". El Espanol. 8 February 2023. 

Nobel laureate Ebadi says Iran's 'revolutionary process' is irreversible. Reuters. 3 February 2023.

Minelegging truer sivile i Ukraina. Klassekampen. 25 January 2023. 

“Oh, Sister!” — life of Women of Ukraine amidst the war. The Odessa Journal. 29 December 2022.

‘Bravery has no gender’: Nobel prize winner praises role of women in Ukraine conflict. The Irish Times. 16 December 2022.

Für Ukraine alles geben, was möglich ist. Berliner Zeitung, 16 December 2022. 

Shirin Ebadi on the legal obstacles Iran’s protesters face. Economist, 16 November 2022

Will Russia use tactical nukes? It’s time to abolish nuclear weapons.* Houston Chronicle, 6 November 2022

How Women Respond to War: An Interview With Three Nobel Laureates. Women's Media Center, 4 November 2022

U.S/ Seeks Removal of Iran From U.N. Women's Rights Agency. New York Times, 2 November 2022

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Spotlight the Brave, Visionary Women of Ukraine And Launch 'Women Lead' Campaign. Forbes, 28 October 2022

“They Want a Democracy”: Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi on Protests, Regime’s Future. Democracy Now, 20 October 2022

'Iran will be democratic one day': Shirin Ebadi. DW, 23 October 2022

Shirin Ebadi: Women will open the gate to democracy in Iran. CNN, 7 October 2022

*Behind a paywall

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