On October 6, 2025, the U.N. Security Council holds its annual open debate on Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.
25 years ago, we women, who live the wars the Security Council debates, appeared before the Council, urging action, and sharing our solutions to prevent and mitigate the violence and complex wars we faced.
They adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.
But those words on paper have not been realized. 25 years on, we face an arms race, shrinking civic space, climate crises, more wars, occupation, and genocide.
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…i
Over 25 years, we shared our realities:
The war came to my doorstep, the day my son was missing in action from the battlefield. I contacted other women, as mothers, who wanted to stop the war.
I led a group to the Tamil Tigers territory. We met the youth and were able to understand their side of the story.
With the women across the divide, we were able to build much-needed trust.
Our call was right to life for all.
But the official process that started—based on our work—excluded us.ii
Time and again when it comes to high level negotiations, women’s voices and experiences are marginalized.iii
25 years after resolution 1325, women’s participation should be a default, not an afterthought.
Unmet commitments are just words and do nothing to bring peace.iv
What are you waiting for?v
~ ~ ~
We shared the pain:
My dream of a great future was cut short. I was determined to be the first person in my village to go to university. But the Lord’s Resistance Army abducted me with more than a hundred other girls.
I was an innocent young girl, repeatedly raped by an LRA commander.
I got a chance to escape and was lucky to go to university. But many of the girls were not able to because they have babies born of their abuse.
I have told my own story, but the stories you have not heard are thousands-fold. I’m here to remind you of the children who are hoping for you to act.vi
What are you waiting for?
Sexual violence is a weapon to torture and terrorize—most victims will not receive services, protection, acknowledgement, or justice.vii
Unmet commitments are just words.
What are you waiting for?
~ ~ ~
We said:
In the absence of government, we are at the forefront of providing aid and services in places unreachable by international organizations.viii
In areas hardest hit by violent extremism, where no one would dare stand up to the Taliban, out of necessity, I had a dialogue with their leaders.ix
Without protection and with scant resources, we continue to work to bring peace. We sensitize young people to dissociate themselves from the armed groups.x
We speak for unarmed civilians, bring tolerance, forgiveness, and practical solutions that are the basic tenets of reconciliation.xi
We can go places, say things, engage and build trust in ways that are not possible for other actors.
We are not essentializing women.
But speaking about the women, who have the vision, courage and skill to engage in such deeply dangerous work.xii
Those who, out of the horrific ordeals we have suffered and witnessed, have transformed into peacebuilders.xiii
Yet, we remain vastly underrepresented in efforts to prevent conflict and violent extremism.xiv
Unmet commitments are just words.
What are you waiting for?
~ ~ ~
We warned you:
Lasting peace can be achieved only when women sit at the negotiation table together with men.xv
The Taliban view women, who speak out, as the enemy, because they expose the depth and breadth of the Taliban’s abuse of the Afghan people.xvi
If we leave it only to men, we get Israeli generals and Palestinians who will not be defeated, there is no room to negotiate.xvii
Our demands for inclusion are pragmatic.
Why should wielding weapons and threatening violence be the only ticket to peace talks?
If you are serious about achieving peace, then as governments and the UN, respect and draw on peace actors.
We do not live in the realm of fantasy. Our wars are complex and multifaceted. Our peace processes must be rooted in that reality.xviii
But unmet commitments are just words.
What are you waiting for?
~ ~ ~
We explained to you:
Women’s exclusion is not about culture; it is about power.
All issues are women’s issues.xix
Peace is not simply ending war, but addressing collectively the root causes of conflict and demilitarizing our societies.xx
When we speak of peace in everyday life, for women and men, it means accepting differences, being treated well by the police, employment, health, women walking alone free from danger of being raped, participating in the country’s decision-making without feeling threatened, children playing and studying without fear of being recruited, without fear of losing a loved one.xxi
But unmet commitments are just words.
What are you waiting for?
~ ~ ~
The open circle you sit in symbolizes a clear path away from war, breaking the cycle of violence.xxii
In the presence of the enormous power you represent, with the terrible awareness of how dangerous that power can be. We ask that you fulfill your responsibility as set out in the United Nations Charter.xxiii
The task of sustaining world peace will be easier in partnership with ‘we the people of the United Nations’.
1325 is unique.
What other resolutions are supported by people from Sri Lanka to Colombia, Liberia to Aceh?xxiv
But unmet commitments are just words.
What are you waiting for?
~ ~ ~
We tell you again:
You need us because, even when we are women whose very existence contradicts each other, we will talk—we will not shoot.
We are willing to sit together on the same side of the table and look at our complex history, not getting up until—in respect and reciprocity—we get up together and fulfill our joint destiny.xxv
Are you willing to work with us? xxvi
Unmet commitments are just words.
What are you waiting for?
What are you waiting for?
The International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) thanks these women for their powerful words before the Council, which we borrowed and remixed to create this statement:
Maha Abu-Dayeh Shammas, Grace Akallo, Hamsatu Allamin, Visaka Dharmadasa, Bineta Diop, Wazhma Frogh, Terry Greenblatt, Abir Haj Ibrahim, Rita Lopidia, Julienne Lusenge, Amina Megheirbi, Charo Mina-Rojas, Yanar Mohammed, Zahra Nader, Eugenia Piza-Lopez, Mossarat Qadeem, and Rosa Emilia Salamanca.
The following individuals and organizations proudly endorse this statement (add your name here):
Organizations:
- Abductees’ Mothers Association
- Afghan Women Network International (AWNI)
- Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development
- Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) Indonesia
- Association of War Affected Women (AWAW)
- Advocacy for Women in Peace and Security Africa (AWAPSA)
- Center for Advocacy in Gender Equality and Action in Development (CAGEAD)
- Center for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD)
- Centre for Women and Development
- Centre Résolution Conflits
- Coalition for Action on 1325 (COACT)
- Coast Education Centre (COEC)
- Community and Family Aid Foundation – Ghana
- Comrades of Rohingya Youth (CRY)
- Corporación de Investigación y Acción Social y Económica (CIASE)
- DemoS
- Empatiku Foundation
- FARAGEER (Women Led Global Forum for Afghanistan)
- FEPAD Burundi (Femmes Engagées à consolider la paix et l’Assainissement pour le Développement durable)
- Gender Concerns International
- Global Harmony Foundation (GHF)
- Justice, Human Rights, and Gender Civil Association (JHRGCA)
- International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
- Kitgum Women Peace Initiative (KIWEPI)
- The Kota Alliance
- Kosova Rehabilitations Centre for Torture Victims
- Legal Action Worldwide
- Libyan Women Forum
- M-WPS (Myanmar Women Peace and Security)
- New Lines Institute
- PAIMAN Alumni Trust
- Pathways for Women’s Empowerment and Development / Integrated Agricultural Training Center (PaWED-IATC)
- Pax Christi International
- Peace Track Initiative (PTI)
- Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy
- Reach Out Cameroon
- Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
- SHE Associates
- Sound of Silence Africa Initiative
- Sudanese Eve Organization
- Tunisian League of Human Rights
- Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism
- Union de l’Acion Feminine (UAF)
- Wi’am – The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center
- WO=MEN
- WOGOOD for Human Security
- Women for Justice Foundation (WJF)
- Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
- Women for Peace and Participation
- Women Relief Aid
- Women and Children Research and Advocacy Network (WCRAN)
- Women Education and Development Organization of Liberia (WEDOL)
- Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC)
- Women’s Advocacy Committee (WAC)
- Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL)
- Women’s Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness (WCGLA)
- Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice
- Women’s International Peace Centre
- Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC)
- Young Women Emerge / Jeune Femme Emerge
Individuals:
- Negar Abay
- Mary Akrami
- Maha Alshehabe
- Kaze Ariane
- Nesmah Mansoor Ali
- Kawther Alkholy
- Hamsatu Allamin
- Antelak Almutawakel
- Khedija Arfaoui
- Sarah Arumugam
- Caroline Atim
- Mariam Bakrawi
- Nazik Bakrawi
- Sabra Bano
- Natalia Baranova
- Hafida Benchehida
- Charlotte Bunch
- Faddy Gladys Canogura
- Roseline Cassell
- Anita Cheria
- Daniel Maboudou Constant
- Visaka Dharmadasa
- Rodolfo Domínguez
- Omam Esther
- Asarulhaq Hakimi
- Feras Hamdouni
- Quhramaana Kakar
- Kainat Kamal
- Ashima Kaul
- Ayan Khalif
- Dwi Rubiyayanti Kholifah
- Cerue Konah Garlo
- Mira Kusumarini
- Joseph Kwashie
- Muna Luqman
- Shahrazad Magrabi
- Sunita Mainali
- Urooj Mian
- Maha Mohammed Awadh Mohammed (مها محمد عوض محمد)
- Rizwan Mughal
- Bernedette Muthien
- Ahlem Nasraoui
- Indika Perera
- Emily Prey
- Danielle Prince
- Neelam Raina
- Amina Rasul
- Jaana Rehnstrom
- Martha Inés Romero
- Cynthia Rothschild
- Feride Rushiti
- Bénédicte Santoire
- Mariyam Shakeela
- Ro Maung Ming Shwe Jr (Anowar)
- Saroja Sivachandran
- Jean Claude Bamhiha Tsudjo
- Maja Tursunovic
- Clotilda Andiensa Waah
- Nicoline Wazeh
- Bahishta Zahir
- Abdul Majeed Mohamed Ziyad
Add your name here.
Download a PDF version of the statement here.
i The International Civil Society Action Network is grateful for the powerful voices of the following women who appeared before the Security Council. Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Melinda Holmes, and Isabela Karibjanian have rephrased and remixed their words to create this statement.
ii Visaka Dharmadasa, Sri Lanka, 2010
iii Eugenia Piza-Lopez, Costa Rica, 2000
iv Rita Lopidia, South Sudan, 2016
v Bineta Diop, Senegal, 2012
vi Grace Akallo, Uganda, 2009
vii Amina Megheirbi, Libya, 2012
viii Yanar Mohammed, Iraq, 2015
ix Mossarat Qadeem, Pakistan, 2009
x Julienne Lusenge, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2015
xi Asha Hagi Elmi Amin, Somalia, 2009
xii Mossarat Qadeem, Pakistan, 2009
xiii Hamsatu Allamin, Nigeria, 2015
xiv Yanar Mohammed, Iraq, 2015
xv Wazhma Frogh, Afghanistan, 2017
xvi Zahra Nader, Afghanistan, 2022
xvii Maha Abu-Dayeh Shammas, Palestine, 2002
xviii Mossarat Qadeem, Pakistan, 2009
xix Visaka Dharmadasa, Sri Lanka, 2010
xx Charo Mina-Rojas, Colombia, 2017
xxi Rosa Emilia Salamanca, Colombia, 2019
xxii Abir Haj Ibrahim, Syria, 2024
xxiii Terry Greenblatt, Israel, 2002
xxiv Visaka Dharmadasa, Sri Lanka, 2010
xxv Terry Greenblatt, Israel, 2002
xxvi Visaka Dharmadasa, Sri Lanka, 2010
