Women’s Human Rights Teaching and Advocacy Compendium

Peaceful and inclusive societies (Armed Conflict, Human Rights and Health)

Subtopic: Women’s and Feminist Peace Activism

Introduction to Women’s & Feminist Peace Activism .................................................................... 2

Learning Outcomes ......................................................................................................................... 2

Preparation ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Read ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Watch .......................................................................................................................................... 3

Research ...................................................................................................................................... 3

List of women peace activists: ................................................................................................ 3

Key Ideas and Definitions ................................................................................................................ 3

Activism ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Advocacy ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Feminist peace activism .............................................................................................................. 4

A culture of peace ....................................................................................................................... 4

Multilateralism ............................................................................................................................ 4

Key Actors and Institutions ............................................................................................................. 4

Global Advocacy Work ................................................................................................................ 4

Local and National Initiatives ...................................................................................................... 5

Instructional Options ...................................................................................................................... 7

Lecture ........................................................................................................................................ 7

History of Women’s Peace Activism ....................................................................................... 7

The Peace Movement ~ US, Europe & Beyond .................................................................. 7

Peace Activism & the BPfA & the road to SCR 1325 ........................................................... 8

Women’s leadership in disarmament ............................................................................... 10

Discussion Questions ................................................................................................................ 10

Exercises .................................................................................................................................... 10

Exercise 1: Feminist Peace .................................................................................................... 10

Exercise 2: Nobel Women’s Initiative ................................................................................... 11

Exercise 3: Journaling ............................................................................................................ 11

Additional Resources ................................................................................................................ 11

Advocacy ....................................................................................................................................... 13

Review of the Issues and Responses ........................................................................................ 13

What’s happening now in peace activism? How can you get involved? .............................. 13

Everyday activism ................................................................................................................. 13

Reflection Questions ............................................................................................................. 13

Student Activity ......................................................................................................................... 14

COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter ......................................................................................... 14

Disarmament......................................................................................................................... 14

Introduction to Women’s & Feminist Peace Activism This session helps students think about a particular group within civil society--- those who have organized as women and as activists for a feminist peace in conflicts across the globe and transnationally. These include women resisting colonialism, European and US activists opposing the world wars and the nuclear arms race, and grassroots women peacebuilders who lead peacebuilding and mediation efforts in local communities ravaged by war. There is a focus here on the civil society actors credited with efforts leading to the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This session will also present various examples of present day activism for peace and how they are related to social movements that work for democracy, gender equality, human rights, racial justice, climate action, among many other important issues.

Consider:

Who do you consider to be peace activists? (Are they mostly men or women?)

What role have women historically played in feminist peace activism/anti-war movements?

Where do you see feminist peace activism today? Please describe and share your thoughts about it.

Learning Outcomes 1. Understand what is meant by feminist peace activism & advocacy

2. Understand some of the histories of global women’s feminist peace activism with a focus on advocacy related to the UN WPS Agenda and the role of this activism in strengthening multilateralism

3. Be familiar with the stories of key actors in the global women’s peace movement

4. Have a basic sense of contemporary global women’s peace activism (every day activism; young women leaders for peace; Culture of Peace)

Preparation

Read Gbowee, L. (2018). Peace is not Enough. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/16/opinion/politics/leymah-gbowee-peace-liberia.html Rupert, J. (2019). To Build Peace, Boost the Women Who Lead the Movements. United States

Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2019/09/build-peace-boost-women-who-lead-movements

Watch Global Network of Women Peacebuilders. (2020). FwMAP Peace Activist Series [YouTube

playlist]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOJeLJPRTsqEOsV_87ZlT9y36HJ_LR_y_

Ikeda Center. (2015, May 26). Betty Reardon - UN Security Council Resolution 1325- The Role of Civil Society [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oznVMIDYhOo

Research What is the history of the women’s peace movement in your country? What has been your country’s experience in women’s peace activism or lack thereof?

List of women peace activists: Wikipedia. (2020). List of women pacifists and peace activists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_pacifists_and_peace_activists

Key Ideas and Definitions

Activism Taking action to effect social change. Often concerned with ideas of changing the world for the better through effecting social, political, economic or environmental change. By individuals or through civil-society organizations or collectively through social movements.

Advocacy Action taken on behalf of a cause, interest or group. It can involve calling for specific policy or political outcomes, systematically influencing decision-making, and educating the public with the purpose of bringing about progressive social transformation.

Feminist peace activism Organized activity in the pursuit of gender equality and women’s rights, and for a sustainable, inclusive, and just peace. Peace is more than the absence of war , guns and violence and there are many facets to consider: Are human rights protected and respected? Is everyone equal before the law? Is there a path to sustainable development, human security, responsible natural resource management, and good governance? Are communities able to rely on non-violent conflict resolution?

A culture of peace Is a set of values, attitudes, traditions, and modes of behavior and ways of life based on respect for life, ending violence and promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation. Gender equality is an integral value of the culture of peace. Without achieving gender equality and promoting women’s rights, no country will achieve a just, sustainable, and inclusive peace (UN).

Multilateralism A way of organizing relations between three or more states to solve or address problems or issues in the international sphere (bilateral is between two states). These relations may require agreement by consensus. It is grounded in international cooperation, shared liberal principles and international legal and normative frameworks, public goods, global responses to shared challenges, and strong and effective institutions. The United Nations is the most well-known example of a multilateral institution.

Key Actors and Institutions

Global Advocacy Work Follow the work of NGOs working at the UN and stay informed. This is not a comprehensive list. There are also country-specific efforts to advance the agenda of WPS and YPS.

At the global level the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security is a coalition of 19 global NGOs who are advocating on the women, peace and security issues.

Localization of the WPS and YPS resolutions are taken by the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), a coalition of 100 women’s organizations from around the world who are being affected by conflict or humanitarian crisis.

PeaceWomen is WILPF’s Women, Peace and Security program. They offer various resources, articles, and are engaged in advocacy work at the UN.

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a global network led by civil society organisations actively working to prevent violent conflict and build more peaceful societies, in 15 regional networks.

The Asia-Pacific Women’s Alliance on WPS (APWAPS) provides a space for collaboration and conversations on peace and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the U.S. there is the Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation

Local and National Initiatives In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, many women’s rights organizations run community centers which provide psychosocial support, livelihood opportunities, and empowerment workshops for survivors of sexual violence. Nepali women’s rights organizations support survivors of sexual violence and families of victims of enforced disappearances in advocating for gender-sensitive truth and reconciliation processes and accountability. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, young women from North Kivu have led GNWP’s Young Women Leaders for Peace program towards shifting the narrative of sexual violence victims to survivors. They conducted 12-monthly radio shows focused on sexual violence, family dynamics, and gender norms to raise awareness of the negative impact these had on the lives of women and the overall community. Through this initiative which reached thousands of audiences, the young women were able to increase community support towards sexual violence prevention and overall stigmas against sexual violence survivors. The young women have also established microfinance businesses, selling handicrafts and women’s health products. The fact that they were able to earn income has increased their ability to influence decision-making in their household and community.

Despite widespread religious tensions in Burkina Faso, women peacebuilders from different religious groups established a women-led interfaith network of over 300 people to promote non-violence and tolerance amongst local communities through conflict-sensitivity, mediation, and interreligious dialogue. Similarly, women conduct mediation between organized crime groups, police officers, and other actors in the impoverished parts of Brazilian cities (favelas), which are heavily militarized and affected by police brutality.

In Poso, Central Sulawesi, and Lamongan, East Java, Young Women Leaders for Peace coordinated advocacy efforts with local and national government to ensure that initiatives to prevent violent extremism are gender-sensitive, sustainable, and protect human rights, thereby countering gender stereotypes of young women in hardline, securitized discussions. The West

African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) Nigeria engages youth through a program called Youth Coalition Against Terrorism to reduce their vulnerabilities of joining extremist groups such as Boko Haram.

In Kherson, Ukraine, local women’s civil society meet regularly with the oblast and rayon authorities to work on the Oblast Action Plan on WPS and ensure its implementation and effective monitoring. They are localizing the National Action Plan on WPS.

In the Philippines, young women peacebuilders contributed to a peaceful transition to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao after five decades of conflict. They encouraged local ownership and support for the peace process. The ratification of Bangsamoro Organic Law, which established the new Bangsamoro government, occurred after votes were cast in the plebiscite in Mindanao in January and February 2019. Many were unaware of the importance of this law and young women in Mindanao organized community-focused youth fora to raise awareness of the law. These efforts for non-partisan electoral education saw over 1500 young people pledging to vote responsibly in the plebiscites and raise awareness amongst their local communities to encourage other young voters to do the same.

The strong gender and women’s rights provisions in the peace agreements between the Colombian and Philippine governments with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front respectively are a direct result of the advocacy and meaningful participation of feminist movements and women’s rights groups from both countries.

In addition, the persistent and sustained advocacy of the South Sudan Women’s Coalition for Peace during the High-Level Revitalization Process in 2018 directly contributed to the advancements in women’s political participation enshrined in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, including a required minimum of 35 percent participation of women in national and local political decision-making and a youth leader for the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sport.

In response to the launch of the High Peace Council (HPC) and Provincial Peace Councils, the United Nations Development Program's Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program claimed that more than 250,000 women signed the petition, which called for armed insurgents to agree to a cease-fire and participate in peace talks. The petition was led by the women’s committee of High Peace Council to highlight the vibrant roles of women in peacebuilding in the country and their ambition to equally participate in reduction of violence. Moreover, hundreds of women peace councils have been established to increase women's awareness and participation in peace talks and other key discussions in government. In addition to this, Mothers for Peace gathers women from different provinces to participate in monthly meetings to discuss ways to advance the current peace process and ensure women's participation in it.

Instructional Options

Lecture

History of Women’s Peace Activism There is a long history of women organizing against militarism and war and, in particular, of women organizing to do so ‘as women’ and in women-only groups and for feminist outcomes. Why is this the case? What is a feminist take on war? Women are not somehow inherently more peaceful creatures (even if this claim is made) although this phenomenon is connected to how men and women are socialized in relation to war.

As Cynthia Cockburn points out in her book ‘From where we stand: war, women’s activism and feminist analysis’:

‘Women are often motivated by adverse experiences in the male-dominated anti-war movements, preferring to choose different methods of protest and remain in control of their own actions. But like the mainstream movements, women’s groups differ. They debate pacifism - must justice come before peace? They differ on nationalism, some condemning it as a cause of war, others seeing it as a legitimate source of identity. Yet despite women’s varied positionalities and perspectives on war, a coherent feminism emerges in this transnational campaigning, and it suggests to both theory and activism a radical analytical shift: we cannot understand war, nor can we effectively campaign against it, without reference to gender power and gendered violence.’

In the sections that follow we explore examples of women’s activism for a feminist peace. In these examples we can see a range of ideas and actions taken in furtherance of peace. In section b) we look at some histories of women’s peace activism and specifically that which led to the establishment of the UN WPS Agenda (an example of an effort that relied on and supported multilateralism. In section c) we think about the idea of everyday activism and provide examples of contemporary activism and advocacy from around the globe.

The history of women organizing for peace and as women can be traced in many communities for hundreds of years. While there is substantial focus on the peace movements in the United States, it is critical to look at women’s activism outside the Western context and before the 1900s. For example, women played an important role in anti-colonial struggles and independence struggles across Africa, Asia and the Americas. Although not necessary expressly organized as such, women were actively engaged in the various anti-colonial, independence & liberation struggles.

The Peace Movement ~ US, Europe & Beyond

That said, the 20th Century was marked by important struggles for peace that have been profoundly important for global politics. The focus on the U.S. here not because peace movements for peace originated there but rather because as a state it has been the antagonist

or belligerent power in so many wars, including by proxy. The US spends more per capita and overall on arms and on conducting war than most other countries. How US citizens respond to and curb this war power is important on a global level.

In the US the history of the peace movement is often traced to the movements for peace in the post-WWII era but there were many efforts by women to oppose earlier wars. The roots of some of the organizations involved in contemporary WPS activism can be traced to earlier efforts and particularly to those undertaken alongside European women in the early 20th century.

In 1915, during the First World War, over one thousand women met in the Netherlands, including the US Women’s Peace Party, to strategize on how to end the war and ensure sustainable peace. This meeting led to the eventual creation of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) which continues to advocate for peace, disarmament and socio-economic justice. WILPF’s mandate remains today. The WILPF program, Reaching Critical Will, works to achieve and advocate for disarmament and de-militarism, all while confronting ‘gender discrimination throughout their campaigns.

In the mid to late 60’s the opposition to the Cold War and US interventions abroad was the focus of activism and this continued and was solidified in the opposition to the Vietnam War. The anti-war protests also overlapped with the anti-racist work of the civil-rights movement. The work of activists like Dr King Jr and others in that movement inspired activism that engaged a variety of tactics and methods ranging from earlier adoption of militarist tactics to peaceful acts of civil disobedience.

The peace movement continued in various forms following the end of the Vietnam War and the US’s military engagement in South-East Asia and was revived in opposition to the war in Iraq in 2003.

Peace Activism & the BPfA & the Road to SCR 1325

The Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) recognizes the significance and importance of women’s peace activism. It also served as a stepping-stone for the greater recognition of women’s role in peace and security decision making in policy.

BPfA Critical Area of Concern on Women and Armed Conflict, or ‘Section E’ calls for an increase in the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels, and in the protection of women living in situations of armed conflict, among other objectives. It also underscores the gendered impact and experiences in humanitarian emergencies, and therefore the need for more holistic support for crisis-affected women, young women, adolescent girls, and gender non-conforming individuals.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (women and peace and security) was adopted on October 31, 2000, after years of advocacy by women’s civil society. The resolution focuses on the important role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response, and post-conflict

reconstruction. It also emphasizes the importance of women’s full participation in the promotion and maintenance of peace and security.

UNSCR 1325 has paved the way to a suite of resolutions that address different areas of peace and security, and reinforce the importance of women’s full participation, protection, prevention and recovery for conflict.

The Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda, through the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020), brought about a paradigm shift by recognizing the critical need for the meaningful participation of youth in peacebuilding. Breaking with harmful stereotypes that posit youth as ‘problems to solve’ and ‘threats to contain’, the YPS Agenda instead recognizes young women and men as ‘partners for peace.’ Dispelling restrictive narratives of women as victims of conflict without agency, young women throughout history have defied gender and age stereotypes as peacebuilders and agents of change. In the absence of formal mechanisms and accessible opportunities to meaningfully participate socially, politically, and economically, young women have forged their own avenues to lead peacebuilding efforts and movements for progressive social transformation. The outstanding leadership of young women and men is undeniable. In recent years, they have led peaceful demonstrations and protests in Algeria, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Sudan, Lebanon, and Chile; sparked global action for climate change; and steered community service, humanitarian response, civic engagement, and social media revolutions.

The WPS and YPS Agendas are inextricably linked. The double marginalization young women and girls experience as women and youth, and the resulting disproportionate impact of violence and armed conflict are overlapping concerns in the WPS and YPS Agendas. Both agendas advocate for the political, social, and economic inclusion of young women and girls in order to achieve inclusive peace processes, which engage women and girls as agents of change working towards sustainable peace and development.

Just prior to the passing of SCR1325, the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (Resolution A/53/243) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 and includes 8 action areas, one of which is: ‘Actions to ensure equality between women and men.’ The culture of peace is outlined in objective 4 under Women and Armed Conflict (see page 62) to: ‘Promote women’s contribution to fostering a culture of peace.’ The objective is broken down into four actions to be taken, including: ‘Encourage the further development of peace research, involving the participation of women, to examine the impact of armed conflict on women and children and the nature and contribution of women’s participation in national, regional and international peace movements…’ References are made to education and training in particular of young women, as well as girls and boys, and the need for research on the impacts of armed conflict.

Women’s organizations today work diligently to implement and monitor the progress of UNSCR 1325 working towards the goals of sustainable peace and gender equality.

Women’s leadership in disarmament

Women’s leadership in disarmament has increased more than ever in UN’s history but women’s participation in security issues is still a big challenge. Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs and international gender champion, has committed to change this and highlights the issue regularly and aims to attain gender parity in her office. And negotiations for the successful passing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was led by women, supported by feminist peace activists. However, there are still many challenges to engage women’s leadership in the disarmament space. (Read 2019 report by UNIDIR).

The disarmament forum at the UN has incorporated gender into agendas in recent years. The Gender Champions site includes: a Gender and Resource pack offers information on gender equality and its relevance to arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament; the link of gender equality with the Arms Trade Treaty and reports on various events held at the UN on the topic.

Discussion Questions

What is the relationship between women’s rights and peace? How do feminist approaches differ to other peace initiatives?

What does war look like from where you are located? How is your government involved in war?

When you think of peace activists, what gender comes to mind? Why? What examples can you give? Why is violence so often perpetrated by men? What does this tell us about masculinity and femininity?

Exercises

Exercise 1: Feminist Peace In small groups, do some research into one of the examples of women’s peace activism below. Then, discuss the following: How did these early movements define peace (as the absence of war or war made safer or something else)? And does this definition of peace match your ideas about peace, why or why not? What do you see as the difference between ‘peace’ and ‘feminist peace’?

A. Northern Ireland, experienced decades of violence and internal disagreements which are known as the Troubles (1960s–90s). Women’s contributions are recognized for the successful negotiation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. More information on women’s participation in the peace process in Northern Ireland can be found here.

B. In Liberia, the second civil war broke out in 1999. Women peace activists, mobilized an interreligious coalition of Christian and Muslim women and organized the Women of

Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement. Through the nonviolent activism led by Liberian women, then President Charles Taylor was pushed into exile and eventual conviction by the International Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone. Taylor’s exile also smoothed the path for the election of Africa’s first female head of state, 2011 Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

C. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. Despite this, South Sudan has been plagued by internal conflicts which continue to this day. South Sudanese refugees are among the largest group of displaced persons in the world, and continue to struggle to build sustainable peace in their country. In 2015, a formal peace process agreement was signed that outlined a ceasefire and transitional peace. 15% of the negotiators of the peace process were women - despite many exclusions at different levels of the government. Women peace activists have been instrumental to the increase in women’s participation at all levels of the peace agreement. In the 2015 agreement, they also included explicit reference to sexualized violence and the need to end gender-based sexual violence in conflict.

D. In Colombia, during the negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (FARC), the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) and its local partners supported ‘Track 1.5’ negotiations – that is, meetings between local women and the official negotiators in the Havana process. Today, GNWP is using its internationally-recognized of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 to support the implementation of the peace agreement that resulted from the process. More on women’s role in the peace process in Colombia can be found here.

Exercise 2: Nobel Women’s Initiative Have students research the Nobel Women’s Initiative established in 2006 by six women peace laureates and present the information as a mini lecture.

Exercise 3: Journaling Reflect on what you can do or are doing in your own context to contribute to sustainable peace and inclusive peace and women’s leadership.

Additional Resources Cockburn, C. (2007) From where we stand: war, women’s activism and feminist analysis. Zed

Books. Abballe, J., Grant, E., Papagioti, F., Reisman, D., & Smith N. (2020). Gender-sensitive provisions

in peace agreements and women’s political and economic inclusion post-conflict. Global Network of Women Peacebuilders. https://gnwp.org/nyu-research-2020/

Acheson, R. (2020). COVID-19: The Pandemic of Nuclear Weapons. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. https://www.wilpf.org/covid-19-the-pandemic-of-nuclear-weapons/

Acheson, R. (2010, March 31). Presentation on gender and nuclear weapons [Conference presentation]. 2010 National Model United Nations, New York, United States. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/statements/6741-presentation-on-gender-and-nuclear-weapons

America Speaks Podcast. (2020, June 13). This is America Speak’s tribute to The Culture of Peace: a rare conversation with Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury and Dr. Joanne Tawfilis [Audio podcast]. https://americaspeakspodcast.libsyn.com/this-is-america-speaks-tribute-to-the-culture-of-peace-a-rare-conversation-with-ambassador-anwarul-chowdhury-and-dr-joanne-tawfilis

Confortini, C. (2019). Valuing Women, Valuing Peace. Ikeda Center. https://www.ikedacenter.org/thinkers-themes/thinkers/interviews/catia-confortini

Confortini, C. C. (2012). Intelligent Compassion: Feminist Critical Methodology in the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Oxford University Press.

Etchart, L. (2015). Demilitarizing the Global: Women’s Peace Movements and Transnational Networks. Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements. doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199943494.013.009

Green, C., Ray, D. B., Mortimer, C., & Stone, K. (2013). Gender-based violence and the Arms Trade Treaty: reflections from a campaigning and legal perspective. Gender & Development, 21(3), 551-562. doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2013.847001

Korea Peace Now. (2020). Resources. https://koreapeacenow.org/resources/ Peace Women. (2020). Civil society organizations database.

https://www.peacewomen.org/cso-database Swank, E., & Fahs, B. (2017). Understanding feminist activism among women: Resources,

consciousness, and social networks. Socius, 3, doi.org/10.1177/2378023117734081 United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. (n.d.). Gender Perspectives.

https://www.un.org/disarmament/topics/gender/ UN Women. (2020). Women of the world, unite!.

https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/timeline/womenunite/en/index.html#/ UN Women. (2018). Women’s meaningful participation in negotiating peace and the

implementation of peace agreements: Report of the expert group meeting. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/10/egm-report-womens-meaningful-participation-in-negotiating-peace

Vogelstein, R. B. (2017). Landmarks in the Global Movement for Women’s Rights: A Timeline. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/blog/landmarks-global-movement-womens-rights-timeline

Advocacy

Review of the Issues and Responses

What’s happening now in peace activism? How can you get involved? Now that we have learned about peace activists, how about thinking about what you can do? Even if you don’t think of yourself as an activist nor have interest in advocacy, there are small daily actions we can take to live peace. You will also become more informed about the advocacy efforts of non-governmental organizations at the UN on the WPS and YPS agendas, UN initiatives in disarmament, as well as local, national and international initiatives. It is impossible to cover everything or even a fraction of what is being carried out worldwide on this important issue. What’s outlined here is just the beginning, a teaser to spark your interest or encourage you on your ongoing activism. As this is an internal discovery for each individual on a personal level, remember to follow your passion. You will be bound to infect others with your enthusiasm. Finally, we wanted to acknowledge the current context in which we are living. There are a few resources mentioned at the end that are addressing COVID-19, racism and its effects on women, peace and security.

Everyday activism Activism in our daily lives has an important impact on the overall peace movement. In fact, it can be argued that it is the most sustainable peace we can count on. Systems and policies must change, together with people’s attitudes and behaviors. (See ‘The Way Forward on Gender, Peace and Security: Learning the Lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan’ (2018) which mentions how violence increased as more women entered the public space and the importance of changing culture and behaviors). The political is personal. Each of us needs to undergo our personal transformations in order to make lasting social change. It is the analogy of the oxygen mask. We must put it on ourselves first before helping others. Elise Boulding, sociologist, educator, peace scholar and activist says: ‘War is not inherent in human beings. We learn war and we learn peace. The culture of peace is something which is learned, just as violence is learned and war culture is learned.’ (Read: Building a Culture of Peace: Some Priorities) The Metta Center for Nonviolence offers many resources, programs, podcasts and tools on practicing nonviolence for anyone to use in their lives.

Reflection Questions If you were a peace activist, how would you build peace and promote gender equality? How does your work connect and how is it driven or empowered by the feminist or women’s movements/collectives?

Student Activity

COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter We cannot ignore the fact that the context in which we live continues to evolve. The current COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, among others, have brought to the surface the need to tackle pre-existing issues. In facing what is most urgent now, we are challenged in our activism and advocacy work to persist in tackling the root causes of obstacles to sustainable change. We are challenged to develop viable recovery plans that do not return us to the old ‘normal’ that got us into our precarious current situation. Take time to learn what resources are available now around the topic of women, peace and security in relation to what’s happening. ‘Resource on COVID-19 Relevance to Violence, Conflict & ‘by the Kroc Institute and Institute for Feminist Foreign Policy ‘Resources on the pandemic.’ How are the global movement against racism and the COVID-19 pandemic linked to feminist peace activism?

Disarmament Learn more about a civil society-led campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, check out the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons to join their advocacy campaigns.