Why Women?
War is on the rise. Violent extremists terrorize millions.
Refugee numbers are at an all-time high.
It’s time for a different approach to security.
Women Help Create Peace That Lasts
When women are included in negotiations, the agreement is 35% more likely to endure for at least 15 years.
Women Bridge Ethnic, Religious, and Political Divides
Women Bridge Ethnic, Religious, and Political Divides
In Liberia, Leymah Gbowee organized Christian and Muslim women who, together, pressured the warring parties to end years of horrific violence.
Women Recognize Warning Signs of Violence
Women Recognize Warning Signs of Violence
Women in Afghan communities have detected Taliban threats overlooked by local security forces, such as increases in suspicious traffic or attempts to recruit and radicalize their sons.
Women Have Their Fingers on the Pulse
Women Have Their Fingers on the Pulse
In Bosnia, women warned against dividing the country because they understood that economic, political, social, and familial ties inextricably linked all the country’s ethnic groups.
Women Have Access
Men Don’t
Women Have Access
Men Don’t
Because they aren’t seen as a threat, women in Syria are able to act as neutral interlocutors, negotiating local-level ceasefires between armed groups.
Women Know Where Solutions Live
Women Know Where Solutions Live
After a devastating genocide, Rwandan women rebuilt their country by championing innovative approaches to reconciliation and governance.
Women Improve Effectiveness of Security Forces
Women Improve Effectiveness of Security Forces
Women in the Pakistani police and military forces can search other women at checkpoints and speak to female victims without the presence of a male guardian.
But Women Aren’t At the Table
Only 9% of negotiators and 4% of signatories at official peace talks are women.
When critical decisions are made—about security, governance, justice, and more—half the population is left out.2
Inclusive Security Means Changing
Who Makes Decisions
In negotiations to prevent and end war
In police and military forces
In national policies related to security and stability
How to Get Results
Influence Policy
Show decision makers how inclusivity can lead to better policy outcomes, and give them the tools to implement it effectively.
- Since 2013, we’ve helped create or strengthen 25 national action plans on women’s inclusion in peace and security. Learn more >
- In collaboration with local partners, we’ve influenced peace processes in Afghanistan, Colombia, Liberia, Myanmar, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria. Learn more >
- We’ve published more than 100 research briefs presenting evidence-based insights for how to make peace and security inclusive. Learn more >
Equip Women Leaders
Equip women with essential skills that position them to change the future of their countries.
- We’ve equipped more than 3,000 women with high-level advocacy skills. Learn more >
- We’ve enabled more than 400 global women leaders to lecture at Harvard University as part of our annual colloquium. Learn more >
- More than 200 of our trainees have in turn mobilized and equipped hundreds of additional women in their countries.
Provide Access
Connect decision makers with women leaders to share vital insights from the heart of war zones.
- We’ve connected more than 5,000 policymakers—including two US presidents; five US secretaries of state; dozens of generals, senators, and representatives; and scores of ministers around the world—with women leaders from 45 conflict zones.
- Our staff and members of our Women Waging Peace Networks have published dozens of opinion pieces in prominent media, including The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs, and have appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Dan Rather Reports, PBS News Hour, and more. Learn more >
Women Making an Impact
What One Rwandan Political Leader Learned from Listening to the Grassroots
This Rwandan Woman’s Journey to Elected Office Began in the US
How One Woman Walked Into the Forest and Helped Reconcile Her Country
The Power of Libya’s Female Arms Dealers
Peace Activist Mossarat Qadeem Enlists Mothers to Fight Terrorism in Pakistan
How Liberian Women Organized a Sex Strike and Helped End a War
“Imagine If the Minister Had Listened to Us.”
“We Went to War Because of Peace”
A More Inclusive Future for South Sudan
Female Journalist Risks Prison—Or Worse—to Report on Syria’s Civil War
Fear and Hope in Peshawar
Why Women? Video Library
In the voices of women peacebuilders themselves, these videos demonstrate how women have changed peace processes and improve outcomes.
Sources
- Paul Collier et al., Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War and Development Policy (New York: Oxford University Press and the World Bank, 2003). Cf. Astri Suhrke and Ingrid Samset, “What’s in a Figure? Estimating Recurrence of Civil War,” International Peacekeeping 14, No. 2 (May 2007): 195–203. See also Charles T. Call, Why Peace Fails: The Causes and Prevention of Civil War Recurrence (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2012).
- Date range: 1992-2011 from this report.
