Ukrainian peacebuilder Nina Potarska sails to challenge illegal blockade of Gaza
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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The WPS agenda has proven a vital entry point for women peacebuilders to engage with the security sector and build trust within affected communities. These efforts—often invisible—are contributing to the reform of the sector, reshaping local security environments and mitigating violence.
The War Against Ourselves: Afghan Women Peacebuilders’ Response to the Mental Health Crisis in Afghanistan
This case study describes the drivers of the mental health crisis in Afghanistan, its gendered and cultural dimensions, and the strategies used by Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations to provide solutions. The authors conducted interviews with representatives of Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations and thematic experts, which were complemented by a desk review of project documentation and […]
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24 Years After UNSCR 1325: Women, War, and Insecurity
24 Years After UNSCR 1325: Women, War, and Insecurity
30 October 2024
As members of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), we commemorate the 24th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) with a heavy heart. For over two decades, we have dedicated ourselves to advancing peace and security. Yet today the world is plagued by escalating militarism and wars that once started, go on forever.
We felt deep frustration as the 24th annual WPS Week was commemorated at the UN, celebrating women’s leadership in peace, while many UN member states aid, abet, and perpetrate the wars on Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, and beyond. Pervasive violence continues to spread beyond conflict zones, with women and girls often bearing the brunt of multiple intersecting crises. The return of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has emboldened extremists and authoritarians alike, and ushered in a new era of gender persecution, setting a dangerous precedent for the rest of the world.
As women peacebuilders, and members of the WPS community, we have been at the forefront of efforts to mitigate conflict in our own countries, while valuing the multilateral system and its nonviolent conflict resolution mechanisms.
But we are tired of the hypocrisy of states which claim to champion peace but profit from the sale of arms used in countless atrocities. We are tired of the double standards that enable powerful governments to obfuscate international laws and shred our norms and means of equal coexistence, as peoples and states. We are tired of the empty promises of peace, justice, and inclusion.
We urge global leaders, the UN, and Member States to acknowledge the failure of “business as usual”. We need a paradigm shift where peace is the goal and the strategy. Violence is not inevitable. It is a choice and tactic. True leadership for peace and equal coexistence requires the courage to talk, not to shoot. This is not idealism. It is the hard work that peacebuilders do every day, often risking their own lives.
One year ago, as the genocide in Gaza was intensifying, we reminded the world that violence begets more violence, extremism begets more extremism, but innocent people pay the highest price. After a year of inaction, we once again urgently call for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, allow the flow of aid, and facilitate the release of hostages and prisoners. We insist that international law be respected, and occupation ended, without which justice cannot be realized.
True peace and security for Palestinians, Israelis and the wider region, will not come through the barrel of a gun. The only lasting viable solutions will come through radical inclusive dialogue in parallel within Palestinian society and within Israeli society rooted in respect, dignity, pluralism, and fundamental recognition of equal and shared humanity of all.
It is not easy to speak so frankly. Many may disagree with our stance. We value partnering with governments and multilateral institutions in working for peace. However, to hold true to feminist principles and the WPS agenda’s essence, we must practice what we preach: to dialogue in respect and reciprocity, not to silence or marginalize; to acknowledge the trauma and pain of people on all sides, without erasing histories or falling into false equivalencies; and to accept our responsibility towards future generations. The powerful and privileged have even greater responsibility.
The violence we are witnessing today is perpetrated by human beings and is not inevitable. It can be stopped. It must be stopped.
Every day could be the start of a different future, one free of violence and oppression, anchored in peace and human dignity for all.
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 […]
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
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.
Women peacebuilders often operate in some of the world’s most dangerous contexts—yet the security support available to them is frequently fragmented, repetitive, and short-term. Recognizing the need for a fundamentally different approach, ICAN conducted a holistic security assessment of its Afghan partners, including members of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL). The result is the Holistic Security Menu: a co-designed, partner-driven model that provides practical and sustainable security support—on women peacebuilders’ […]
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.
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.
