Press
Make Sure Women Can Lead in the Middle East
This article, co-authored by Carla Koppell and Haleh Esfandiari, was originally published by Common Ground News Service. In Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia and elsewhere, women have stood with men pushing for change. In Libya, Iman and Salwa Bagaighif are helping lead, shape and support protesters. And in Egypt, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, […]
Press
Women in the World
This article was originally published by Solutions Journal. In 2010, the world’s women face daunting challenges, yet they are also the most promising and untapped agents of change. Who can forget the ink-stained fingers of the 2,000 Iraqi women who ran for parliament in that war-torn country’s 2010 elections; or the mothers of the Plaza […]
Press
Middle East Turmoil Shows Risks of Ignoring Civil Society
This article was originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation. For too long, the vast majority of foreign policy analyses have focused myopically on the positions and actions of government leaders. But as the popular call for change continues in the Middle East, the international community must recognise how centrally important non-governmental actors can be in […]
Press
For Mideast Peace, Talks Must Be Opened to Women
This article, co-authored by Carla Koppell and Rebecca Miller, was originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation. As the US relaunches Israeli-Palestinian talks, it sorely needs to reassess the negotiation process. Previous talks have suffered from lack of both transparency and inclusiveness. For most of the past 20 years, an extremely small group of high-level political […]
Press
Afghanistan’s Most Valuable Resource for Peace? Its Women
This article was originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation. As attention turns to the July 20 donor conference in Kabul, the international community must recognise that lithium and cobalt aren’t the most important resources to be tapped in returning peace and prosperity to Afghanistan. Women are the key. Too often dismissed as victims, Afghanistan’s women […]
Press
Women Take Lead Toward Mideast Peace
This article was originally published by Common Ground News Service. While it’s encouraging that two women—Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni—were key players in the Annapolis conference last week, the fact that women are central in the negotiations will only have an impact if the subsequent talks are structured to […]
Press
Darfur Negotiations
This article was originally published by The Washington Times. Negotiations around Darfur get underway this week. To succeed mediators must build on past successes and learn from past mistakes. Otherwise, Sudan will risk a return to broader conflict. A few key lessons should guide the way that the United Nations and African Union handle the […]
Press
Inclusive Peacemaking
This article was originally published by The New York Times. Last month in Sudan I worked with Darfuri women leaders to prepare for peace negotiations set to take place in Libya later this month. They defined priorities and next steps, and committed to continued collaboration and communication. Although they represented a wide variety of ethnicities […]
Press
Who Belongs at Darfur Talks?
This article was originally published by The Christian Science Monitor. Last month, an unknown group killed 10 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur. Some think whoever did it was trying to get an upper hand at the peace talks scheduled to begin this week. The attack calls into question the approach often used to resolve conflict.As […]
