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.
Just over a year ago the US military officially withdrew from Iraq, ending a nine-year occupation. But it has not meant peace for Iraqis. The decade of sanctions, followed by war and occupation devastated the country’s socioeconomic fabric. Despite the billions allocated for reconstruction, the country is suffering from greater poverty and corruption than pre-2003.1 Meanwhile, political sectarianism and violence continues.
This brief highlights the perspectives of Iraqi women, particularly civil society and peace activists, regarding the losses and gains during the US intervention, the evolving trends and the opportunities and difficulties they face. It offers recommendations to national and international actors on how best to support their efforts to attain and sustain a just peace.
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
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
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