Bridging Positions, Building Trust: Women Peacebuilders & Security Actors
ICAN, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Norway, Sweden, and Canada, the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (UKFCDO), the Ministry of Gender, Child and Welfare of South Sudan, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and the National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI), convened a 1.5-day workshop to discuss how to strengthen community security as a localized, transformative approach for sustainable peace.
Operational Guidance to Establish and Enhance the Protection of Women Peacebuilders (Arabic)
Stemming from the report, “Protecting Women Peacebuilders: The Front Lines of Sustainable Peace,” this document provides operational guidance for states and multilateral institutions to protect women peacebuilders. This document is also available in English, Farsi, and Turkish.
Protecting Women Peacebuilders: The Front Lines of Sustainable Peace (Arabic)
This report distills the range of threats to women peacebuilders, analyzes existing protection mechanisms, and provides guidance to protect women peacebuilders. This report is also available in English, Farsi, French, Spanish, and Turkish. See related operational guidance on how to establish and enhance the protection of women peacebuilders here.
Bridging Positions, Building Trust: Women Peacebuilders & Security Actors
ICAN, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Norway, Sweden, and Canada, the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (UKFCDO), the Ministry of Gender, Child and Welfare of South Sudan, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and the National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI), convened a 1.5-day workshop to discuss how to strengthen community security as a localized, transformative approach for sustainable peace.
With a small group of NGOs, women peacebuilders, activists, women’s rights defenders, journalists, artists, and academics, including the London School of Economics (LSE) and University College London (UCL), we formed the Afghan Solidarity Coalition to facilitate safe houses in Afghanistan, provide livelihood support for partners, and, where possible, support evacuation and resettlement. We are raising funds to continue this work.
100% of funds raised will go towards these efforts.
All donations received are being managed and distributed by the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN). If you have any questions on the financial management of the Afghanistan Emergency Relief Fund please contact: info@icanpeacework.org.
Our Afghanistan Response
We have advocated for years for the inclusion of Afghan women peacebuilders in the Doha negotiations and other peace talks with the Taliban, the Afghan government, and international community. Our concern was always that the protection of civilians and the safeguarding of human rights, including the rights of women and minorities, would not be prioritized and that the implications would be devastating.
Based on our decades of experience and research, ICAN’s premise was that Afghan women peacebuilders’ presence in direct negotiations could mitigate these concerns. By August 2021, as NATO’s military withdrawal accelerated and the Taliban advanced, many of our greatest fears were realized. Despite many governments’ pledges of protection for women peacebuilders and their claims to support women in the security sectors, judiciary, and government, we found women peacebuilders abandoned and in fear for their lives.
In line with our mission, our three-part strategy is as follows:
Advocacy to the international community on behalf of and alongside our Afghan partners;
Direct support to Afghan partners and others at-risk seeking evacuation and resettlement; and
Financial and practical assistance to organizations and individuals inside Afghanistan.
Advocacy: Taking the Lead from Afghan Women Peacebuilders
Our advocacy highlights the need for inclusivity and gender-responsiveness in the actions of the international community, including security interventions, diplomacy, and humanitarian response. We base our recommendations on communication with our Afghan partners inside and outside the country, and on our global experience. We tailor our guidance to the real-time events and issues that governments and the UN system are faced with.
In the wake of the Taliban takeover, the imposition of sanctions, and the freezing of bank accounts, we received desperate pleas for direct financial assistance from our Afghan partners. In response, we quickly developed two Rapid Response Windows (RRWs) specifically designed to enable organizations and individuals to receive funds.
The Afghan Institutional RRW enabled all seven of our WASL partner organizations to keep their doors open and provide support to staff and beneficiaries across the country. The goal has been to enable these organizations to continue their vital work, including care for victims of violence, psychosocial support to women and girls, and mitigating the extremist practices of the Taliban in various communities.
With our Afghan Individual RRW, we supported safe houses for those at great risk and provided funds to over a dozen families for food, rent, winter clothes, and heating bills. We also provided treatment and transportation for cancer patients. For those who received visas, we supported relocation and evacuation costs.
All funding was provided and transferred to beneficiaries in compliance with US sanctions and in a manner that ensured the safety of recipients.
ICAN, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Norway, Sweden, and Canada, the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (UKFCDO), the Ministry of Gender, Child and Welfare of South Sudan, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and the National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI), convened a 1.5-day workshop to discuss how to strengthen community security as a localized, transformative approach for sustainable peace.
Allamin FoundationAWAPSAAWAWCIASECoACTExclude from RSSGEN MyanmarICAN FeaturedICAN UpdatesMobaderoonPAIMANPCIDPolicy AdvocacyWomen's Alliance for Security Leadership
On Sunday, February 4, 2024, our dear friend, partner, and colleague, Enass Muzamel, Co-Founder of the Sudanese peacebuilding organization Madaniya, passed away due to a sudden illness. We express our deepest sympathies to Enass’ family, friends, and colleagues in Sudan and around the world. Together with them, we are in deep shock and mourning for […]
With support from the Rapid Response Window of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund in partnership with the International Civil Society Action Network, Women Relief Aid, a South Sudanese women-led NGO and member of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership, is making remarkable strides to improve realities for women in the country.
Exclude from RSSICAN LatestICAN UpdatesOur StoriesStoriesWomen Relief Aid
The ICAN team seeks a highly motivated Program Intern to work on a range of research, coordination, and program tasks. This unpaid summer internship can be part- or full-time and will run from June through August 2024 (dates can be negotiated). Program interns benefit from attending educational events and learning from the diverse experiences of the ICAN team and our partners in the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL).
On November 22, 2023, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)—in partnership with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), and Karama hosted a high-level dialogue to reimagine partnerships and coordination between women peacebuilders, international mediation, humanitarian, and development actors in crises and conflict settings.
ICAN was invited to attend the Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy Conference at the World Forum in The Hague from November 1-2, 2023. Organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the conference welcomed more than 750 participants from over 40 countries.
On the first day of the conference, ICAN hosted a side event titled: No Feminist Foreign Policy Without Feminist Funding, in partnership with GPPAC.
Rawan Kahwaji is a Program Officer at the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN). She supports the Innovative Peace Fund, and is based in Brussels, Belgium. Rawan had seven years of experience working with civil society organizations (CSOs) in Turkey, Syria, and Europe and has experience in project coordination, advocacy, and communications within the humanitarian field.
Isabela Karibjanian is the Publications Coordinator and Editor at the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN). At ICAN, she serves as the focal point for the production of all published materials, from flagship reports and guidance tools to advocacy documents and articles. She is based in London, UK.
Today, over 1 billion people still lack access to clean water and electricity. Environmental and climate change exacerbates this problem and exposes fragile and conflict-affected communities to further risk and insecurity. While the link between resource scarcity and conflict is well understood, the potential for natural resource governance to facilitate peacebuilding is less well researched.
On Thursday, October 5, 2023, ICAN welcomed Bas Berends, Co-founder and Chief Partnership Officer at OffGridBox, to join our WASL community call.
Exclude from RSSG&E SummariesICAN UpdatesWASL UpdatesWomen's Alliance for Security Leadership
Afghan Women, Peace, and Security
