Munich Security Conference (MSC)

NWI at MSC

Nobel Peace laureate Leymah R. Gbowee led a delegation including Executive Director Maria Butler and Board Member Dildar Kaya for NWI's first attendance at this important meeting.

MSC is a highly militarized space in which more, not less, militarization is achieved. NWI is guided by the fact that increased militarization leads to more conflict, as opposed to lasting peace. 

As this conference brings together global leaders discussing the pathways to peace, NWI was in this space to elevate voices of women peace builders, amplify messages of demilitarization, and to remind audiences that in situations of war and conflict, military action, although it receives the most attention, forms only a small part of the bigger picture. 

Civil society has a long history of organizing around the MSC main conference. NWI’s key partner BMW Foundation hosted a pavilion with numerous events, and the Center for Feminist Foreign Policy was also on the ground offering workshops and targeted events. NWI’s delegation to the conference collaborated with our partners to transmit our key messages both through Leymah Gbowee’s address to the main conference and through side events with our partners, including a screening of Oh Sister! 

NWI key messages

• Although it has been proven time and again that meaningful inclusion of women in peace-building leads to sustainable peace, women’s representation in peace negotiations and security decision-making remains low. 
• To achieve sustainable peace, global security actors must change how they work with local women’s organizations. 
• Leaders must address the structural barriers which prevent women from participation and inclusion in peace and security work. We will all benefit if they do.
• Peace is not achieved through war. Peace is achieved through engagement and understanding. 

About MSC

The Munich Security Conference (MSC) is the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy. The meeting assembles more than 450 senior decision-makers and thought leaders from around the world, including heads-of-state, ministers, leading personalities of international and non-governmental organizations and high-ranking representatives of industry, media, academia and civil society.

The primary purpose of the meeting is to: “build trust and to contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts by sustaining a continuous, curated and informal dialogue within the international security community.”

The meeting took place just a few days ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This war - which the conference recognizes has not only led to enormous suffering in Ukraine, but also exacerbated crises in other parts of the world - and its impact for global security more broadly will be a key focus of the conference. Russia’s blatant disregard for international law over the course of the last year was discussed, and solutions for recommitting to a rules-based global order were sought.

Find out more

Website: https://securityconference.org

Twitter: @MunSecConf

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MunSecConf

Instagram: @munsecconf

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/munsecconf/

During the conference, the MSC involved the public by offering livestreams of the conference’s main program, selected press conferences and discussions on their website and social media channels. Event recordings can be found here.

Photo: Joyous reunion at a screening of Oh, Sister! at #MSC2023. (l-r) Olga Hamama from NWI Partner United for Ukraine, Oleksana Matviichuk Director of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Center for Civil Liberties, Tata Kepler Head of Ptahy Foundation (both of who are featured in Oh, Sister! and NWI Executive Director Maria Butler.