The words of Hillary Rodham Clinton, "When women engage in economic activities, the benefits extend to everyone. When women participate in peacemaking and peacekeeping, the safety and security of all are enhanced," have reverberated across numerous platforms, conferences, and similar gatherings. These words took on a deeper and more reflective meaning during my visit to the Republic of Rwanda in July 2023 as a delegate with the Nobel Women Initiative for Women Deliver 2023.
Fanna Abdu Muhammad: Regaining Hope and Strength After Conflict
In June 2023 I had the opportunity to join the Nobel Women’s Initiative delegation to Rwanda which, involved visiting local communities and organizations who had played a role in supporting recovery after genocide, and participation in the Women Deliver Conference 2023.
Rwanda is renowned not only for a remarkable recovery after devastating conflict, but also for narrowing the gender gap in the process. As an advocate for inclusive peace and security, and gender equality, I was overwhelmed with happiness at the prospect of learning from their experience and connecting with inspiring women who are catalysts for change worldwide.
Daina Rudusa: Why Pride Matters for Gender Equality Too
It is the end of June, a month marked annually in some parts of the world as Pride month, when LGBTIQ movements and people are celebrated, when inequality is protested, and the continuing struggle for equality has a global media megaphone.
While the spotlight shines specifically on LGBTIQ people and the challenges they continue to face, the month, and the issues it spotlights, are pertinent for women too.
Fahima Hashim: Remembering Roya
Our Sudanese sister, Roya Hassan, passed away suddenly and tragically on Friday, 2 June, 2023. Roya was a member of Nobel Women's Initiative's Fall 2021 cohort of the Sister to Sister Mentorship Program. Roya proudly identified herself as a person with a disability, bravely navigating life with multiple sclerosis (MS), and was our sole sister who actively focused her feminist work on making visible the unseen lives of women with disabilities in Sudan and throughout the global South.
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.