Blog

Daina Rudusa: Defiance, Resilience and the Power of People in Ukraine

In June 2022, only a few months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, laureates Jody Williams, Tawakkol Karman and Leymah Gbowee travelled to Krakow in Poland and Lviv in Ukraine to express solidarity with Ukrainian people, and to hear about the challenges and priorities of women as they faced the brutal war. Some of what they heard was documented in “Oh, Sister!”, a powerful documentary about six women and their fight for peace, justice and freedom in Ukraine.

Almost a year later, Nobel Women’s Initiative went back to Ukraine to show the film at the Bucha Journalism Conference, where reporters from Ukraine and abroad discussed the complexities, responsibilities and ethical challenges in reporting on war.

Dildar Kaya: The Power Shift at Munich Security Conference 2023

The world has long been plagued by conflict and violence, and traditional approaches to peace and security have failed to provide effective solutions. This failure has been particularly acute in the Global South, where local communities are most affected by conflict and violence but often lack representation in high-level policy-making discussions. This lack of representation of local peacemakers and particularly women has left many voices unheard and has limited the effectiveness of traditional approaches to peace and security. 

Nicole Musimbi: The Tech Sector Needs More Women

Technology is increasingly shaping our world. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies, affecting everything from where and how we work and live, to tackling the world’s most pressing issues, such as climate change and social injustice. As the sector continues to grow and to affect ever more areas of our lives, we have to recognize that it has implications for gender equality and human rights more broadly, and we need to reflect on the question – where are the women?

Leymah Gbowee: There are three cardinal sins in the fight for accountability

On Friday, 17 February 2023 at the 2023 Munich Security Conference, Leymah Gbowee was asked to provide the first comment from the audience after panel discussion entitled Against Lawlessness: Ensuring Accountability.

Riya Yuyada: Transforming Myself, Others and South Sudan

In 2015, I was selected out of over a thousand applicants to represent South Sudan and the entire African continent in Nobel Women’s Initiative's Sister-to-Sister mentorship program. I was among three sisters in the program - Neesa from Honduras, Teteh from Myanmar, and myself from South Sudan. I didn’t know that what I was doing for my country was noble, until I got into the program and was rubbing shoulders with the most powerful women in the world - the Nobel laureates. That made me appreciate how powerful I  - a poor girl from a small village in South Sudan – was.

Grace Ojukwu: Peace or scam?

When the conflict broke out in South Sudan on 15 December 2013, everybody was devastated. Many people lost their lives in a senseless war. Like any other conflict in Africa, the majority of those affected were women and children. They were displaced everywhere, in refugee camps, and thousands are still in Protection of Civilian Centers across the country. After years of tragedy we finally claim to be in peace. With international influence and pressure from neighboring countries the parties to the conflict accepted to engage in dialogue and signed several peace agreements.

Catherine Vitaliano: Time to Listen

I am a young woman from South Sudan, also known as the world’s youngest nation, which is still in a process of building our democracy after years of protracted conflict. I am passionate about my country's future, and confident that inclusion of women, especially young women, in the nation-building process is crucial to achieving sustainable and prosperous peace, and a strong democracy. With our first general election coming up, now is the time to take action.

Working together to make a nuclear-free world a reality

Four decades after the million person protest march in New York against the build-up of nuclear arms, and 25 years after the signing of the Landmine Treaty in Ottawa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams amplifies the call to stop the proliferation of these terrifying weapons of mass destruction as the world faces the heightened possibility of a nuclear attack by Russia.

Fall Updates from the Nobel Women's Initiative

 

Women leading everyday peace in Ukraine. Women sparking and driving revolution in Iran. Women finding a way forward for peace in Yemen. It has been our honor and our privilege to stand with them and amplify their stories and their calls in the past six months.

 

Honoring the life of Nur Aisyah Maullidah (Aisy)

Aisy's was a life full of promise just beginning to be fulfilled.