Nina Potarska, a member of the ICAN-spearheaded Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership, is currently at sea with the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian-led mission organized with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, en route to Gaza.
As Sri Lanka navigates its way towards a transitional justice and reconciliation process, the human legacy of the intractable 30-year civil war cannot be forgotten. The war’s massive military assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed some 40,000 people and displaced a further 300,000. During this period, Sri Lanka experienced six years of authoritarian leadership implicated in a litany of human rights abuses. Families were torn apart as men were recruited into militias or the state army, many leaving behind widows and female-headed households. A country known for its cultural diversity and highest standards of education became known as a nation of refugees seeking security in any corner of the world.
Yet neither the decades of war nor the years of authoritarianism were able to fully decimate Sri Lankans’ thirst for peace, justice and democracy. Organizations such as the Association of War Affected Women (AWAW) engaged in track 2 mediation with the LTTE, created networks across the country in local communities, bridged divisions between politicians and activists and fostered space for shared vision and voice, in some contexts even in partnership with the police and other security sector actors. These efforts lay the groundwork to enable an extensive grassroots consultation with women in the worst war affected areas, resulting in the publication of the Sri Lankan Women’s Agenda on Peace, Security and Development in 2012.
Race, Power and Peacebuilding aims to explore and to understand how racism manifests itself in the peacebuilding sector. This report has been produced by Peace Direct in collaboration with the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY).
ICAN Latest ICAN Updates Papers
This background paper for the High-Level Meeting on Financing for Peacebuilding was prepared by the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), Kvinna till Kvinna, MADRE, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). The paper focuses on six structural barriers faced by diverse women peacebuilders in accessing funds to support their work. While acknowledging that existing solutions to mitigate challenges need to be further amplified and strengthened, this paper explores innovative avenues to transform the current system of peacebuilding financing to sustainably address the challenges faced by diverse women peacebuilders in the pursuit of inclusive and lasting peace.
ICAN Featured ICAN Latest ICAN Updates Innovative Peace Fund Papers Policy Advocacy
Recognizing the value and need to channel equitable resources to local women’s peacebuilding organizations (WPBOs) have been constant stipulations of the value of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda since its inception at the turn of the 21st century. From the United Nations to its 193 member states, the desire and intent to support such organizations has increased over the years. But the chasm between donors’ good intentions and their political, financial, and administrative constraints has hampered the flow of funds to the grassroots women who need them the most.
ICAN Featured ICAN Updates Our Resources SBP Frameworks
This policy brief highlights key challenges impeding progress on the global PVE and SDG 16 agendas, underscoring how they are two sides of the same coin.
Exclude from RSS Our Resources PVE Thematic Reports
"Challenging Conventional Wisdom, Transforming Current Practices: A Gendered Lens" Sanam Anderlini's contribution to the newly published "Transformative Approaches to Violent Extremism", Berghof Handbook Dialogue Series 13 on Preventing Violent Extremism
G&E other resources ICAN Featured ICAN Updates Papers
This brief examines and reflects on existing efforts to enable the participation of civil society voices, notably women, in Yemen’s formal negotiations. And it provides practical recommendations to the U.S. administration and Congress on steps needed to reach peace in Yemen.
ICAN Featured ICAN Updates Our Resources Papers Peace Track Initiative
A gendered content analysis of nine NAPs, analyzing whether and how specific themes and target groups were discussed, including education, media, civil society, gender/ women, and human rights.
G&E other resources Papers
Images of women’s mass participation surprised Western observers and revealed the vibrant force of Yemeni women as influential, yet previously unrecognized, change agents.
Our Resources What The Women Say Briefs
Respect the Dignity and Autonomy of Girls: Stop Recruitment of Girls into Militant Groups 16 year-old YPJ fighter Barkhodan Kochar from Darbasi, Syria.“The war influenced me a lot. Before joining YPJ, whenever I asked my family about politics, they’d say ‘that’s not your business, you’re just a girl’. But when I saw how the women […]
G&E other resources Papers