Announcing the Establishment of a Global Civil Society Platform Dedicated to Preventing Violent Extremism

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. 

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

In March 2020, ICAN and its global network of women-led peacebuilding organizations, WASL, launched the She Builds Peace (SBP) campaign.

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.

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.

در عرصه صحت روانی، افغانستان با بحران پیچیده‌ای مواجه است که این بحران به‌ طور جدایی ‌ناپذیر با ناامنی شدید فیزیکی، سیاسی و اقتصادی در کشور گره خورده و این نا امنی ها بحران را تشدید می‌کند. برای رسیدگی به آسیب های روانی، صحت و بهداشت جامعه به شیوه های پاسخگو به جنسیت و با مد نظر گرفتن حساسیت های فرهنگی، سازمان‌های فعال در عرصه صلح‌ سازی به رهبری زنان افغان در موقعیتی منحصربه ‌فرد قرار دارند. این سازمان ها خدمات ابتدایی ارائه می‌دهند، مهارت‌ها را توسعه می‌بخشند و در شکل‌دهی هنجارهای فرهنگی و جنسیتی نقش مؤثر ایفا می‌کنند.

افغانستان له یوه ډېر پېچلي اروایي/رواني روغتیايي حالت سره مخ دی چې دا حالت د هېواد له ناامنۍ، سیاسي ګډوډۍ او اقتصادي ستونزو سره تړلی او لا یې دا ستونزې زیاتې کړي دي. د افغان ښځو په مشرۍ سوله‌پالې ادارې کولی شي د خلکو روغتیا او هوساینې ته پاملرنه وکړي، ځکه د دوی کار د ښځو اړتیاوو ته په پاملرنه ترسره کیږي، له کلتوري حساسیتونو سره سمون لري او د ټروما په معلوماتو باندې متکي (trauma-informed) تګلارې دي. دا ادارې اساسي خدمتونه وړاندې کوي، خلکو ته مهارتونه ورزده کوي او کلتوري دودونه او جنسیتي اړخونه تر پوښښ لاندې نیسي.

In a powerful departure from traditional advocacy, ICAN—guided by our Afghan partners and women peacebuilders—hosted the event “Watan e Ma – وطن ما – Our Homeland: Women of Afghanistan Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive” on March 17, 2025 at Blue Gallery in New York City. Held during the 69th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), the event celebrated Afghan cultural heritage and the resilience of Afghan women peacebuilders, who persist in their leadership for peace, justice, and equality under the Taliban’s regime of gender apartheid.  

Trust between communities and the security sector is critical for effective governance and peace. So is a vibrant civil society. When women peacebuilders are recognized and engaged as independent, strategic partners and security actors—in their own right—the results are transformative. Twenty-five years on from the launch of the WPS agenda, women peacebuilders’ creativity and contributions to societal peace and security are not only timely, they are even more essential.

Afghanistan is facing a complex mental health crisis inextricably linked with and compounding the dire state of physical, political, and economic insecurity in the country. Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations are uniquely positioned to address community members’ health and wellness in gender-responsive, culturally- sensitive, and trauma-informed ways.

As the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) continues to expand globally, fostering stronger regional and national networks, we are excited to announce the formation of the first-ever WASL Steering Committee.

As members of the global Women's Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), we join our Syrian partners as they celebrate this extraordinary and historic moment of liberation from the 50 years of the Assad family’s dictatorial regime that dominated their lives and devastated their homeland since 2011. Around the world, our Syrian sisters’ voices rise in joy, embodying the resilience and hope that has carried them through decades of oppression and struggle.