Afghanistan is a country in which women and girls have paid the price of war and conflict. During the last two decades women and girls in my country have fought for their rights to education, political participation, equality, access to social and economic rights. We have fought for our ability to become who we want to be, and lead dignified and fulfilled lives.
A famous Yemeni poet once described Sana’a City as “a beauty, loved by tuberculosis and scabies”. This description always comes to mind when I see or hear about the immense injustice girls and women are facing daily in Yemen. Imagining them as pure beautiful souls held captive by the power of deadly tuberculosis and scabies.
The best practices from Malawi on feminist collectivism and leadership in ensuring efficiency in Disaster Reduction
Climate disasters are increasing in frequency, and becoming more and more concerning. Not only do they raise concerns about the future of our planet, but they also present intersecting challenges to vulnerable populations that already face many intertwined issues.
All my life I heard about mental illnesses. In fact, I could say I heard about one mental illness: madness. Madness because of sickness, sickness because of madness. But it was only a few years ago that I heard the concept of mental health, not as the absence of illness, but as well-being. Because in the end, being well is what all of us look for in life.
I’m sitting by my window in my new home, observing the colors of nature outside. Large green spaces covered by blue sky, intercepted with the sweet sounds of hummingbirds flying high above with ultimate freedom. However, as I bring my gaze inside, the beautiful scene is disturbed by a pile of white and green packages on my desk. There are dozens of them before me, placed in a carefully organized order which does not reflect my random (or sometimes messy) personality. The word “Antidepressant” is written on each of them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.