The Sister-to-Sister Mentorship Program exemplifies the overall mission of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, which is to “spotlight, amplify and promote the work of grassroots women’s organizations and movements around the world,” and also, “expand feminist efforts to promote nonviolence solutions to war, violence and militarism.”
After having spent 6 weeks with four inspiring, exuberantly positive and caring young women’s rights defenders, it is humbling to say that this mission was worked on, analyzed and valued, each day. Another aspect of this training program for young women’s rights defenders is a crash-course in experiencing and understanding ‘sisterhood.’ A space was opened for four young women from distinctly different backgrounds to learn, teach, challenge and be challenged by each other.
A quote from Chandra Mohanty seems especially fitting to capture what this means, “Sisterhood cannot be assumed on the basis of gender; it must be forged in concrete historical and political practice and analysis.” The process of building solidarity across borders and experiences is hardly a straightforward process, but the impact can be both meaningful and lasting. Diana, HayMann, Muzna and Maryam prove that hard work and commitment can absolutely coincide with laughter, embracing emotions in difficult times, and constant attention to personal growth and learning.
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Head over to the Sister-to-Sister blog to catch up on this year’s program.