Across Syria, communities are finding ways to reconnect after years of war through dialogue, storytelling, art, and collective action. Mobaderoon’s Local Peace Committees demonstrate why lasting peace begins within communities themselves.
Uncomfortable Truths, Unconventional Wisdoms: Women’s Perspectives on Violent Extremism and Security Interventions
A Brief on Policy and Practice for Mitigating Extremism and Advancing Sustainable Development
March 2016, No. 1
The Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL*) has released its first brief based on consultations with more than 70 women’s rights and peace practitioners across 15 countries conducted in late 2015. Uncomfortable Truths, Unconventional Wisdoms: Women’s Perspectives on Violent Extremism and Security Interventions issues recommendations for international and national policy and practice to support women-led civil society activists and organizations in their efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism. This brief specific addresses four key areas: (1) security concerns for civilians and civil society organizations; (2) experiences and engagement with local police; (3) outreach to militias and experiences of de-radicalization work; and (4) perspectives on international military and security presence and interventions.
* ’Wasl’ means to ‘connect’ in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian
Read the executive summary, and
download the full report.
Across Syria, communities are finding ways to reconnect after years of war through dialogue, storytelling, art, and collective action. Mobaderoon’s Local Peace Committees demonstrate why lasting peace begins within communities themselves.
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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.
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مدينة البصرة في جنوب العراق، المدينة التي تضررت طويلا من الحرب وقلة الاستثمارات، تواجه تهديدات متزايدة بسبب خطاب الكراهية والتطرف وتآكل الثقة بين المواطنين والمؤسسات. وغالبا ما يقع الشباب -وخاصة الشابات- في قلب هذه التوترات، في عالم تتقاطع فيه المضايقات والتحرش الالكتروني مع الواقع. وفي مثل هذه البيئة، تتبنى جمعية الفردوس العراقية (الفردوس) نهجا جديدا […]
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The International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) Statement: The Escalating U.S.-Israeli War on Iran and its Regional Ramifications
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In March 2020, ICAN and its global network of women-led peacebuilding organizations, WASL, launched the She Builds Peace (SBP) campaign.
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ICAN is hiring a Staff Accountant to provide financial and administrative support to ICAN’s Finance Director and broader team.
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Iraqi Al-Firdaws Society (Al-Firdaws) is taking a new approach to peacebuilding. Their project, Horizon: Promoting Community Peace, supported by ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF), brings together youth, local security forces, and civil society actors to address violent extremism through dialogue, education, and community-based action.
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Introducing the Holistic Security Menu: a co-designed, partner-driven model that provides practical and sustainable security support—on women peacebuilders’ own terms.
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ICAN convened 20 members of WASL in Lisbon for the “Our Strategies, Our Peace” Writers’ Workshop. This unique gathering provided a secure and creative space for women peacebuilders to share their strategies, experience, expertise, and stories from conflict and crisis contexts.
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On October 6, 2025, the U.N. Security Council holds its annual open debate on Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. Today, we are not issuing a new statement. Instead, we are honoring our community of women peacebuilders—who appeared before the Security Council throughout these 25 years, speaking for the millions they represent—by echoing their messages.
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In South Sudan, a nation where peace has long remained fragile and democratic progress uncertain, women are stepping forward to shape the future of their country. Long excluded from the corridors of power, they are forging their own movement for lasting change.
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On behalf of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and members of the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), we are honored to nominate Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
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