Marie-Joëlle Zahar is Pushing the Boundaries for Women in Security & Peacebuilding

Marie-Joëlle Zahar has been an ICAN Board Member since 2019. In this interview, she reflects on her early experiences during the war in Lebanon and how they shaped her journey in the world of conflict resolution, peacekeeping, post-conflict reconstruction, and gendered work. Marie-Joëlle shares stories of her time as a Senior Expert on the Standby Team of Mediation Experts at the UNDPPA, what it was like being one of the few women in international mediation spaces, and her advice for the next generation of women peacebuilders and WPS practitioners. Read more to view the full conversation.

Interview with Dr. Rita Sabat, Notre Dame University in Lebanon

“The recommendation that I make is actually the international community should make [women’s rights] a foreign policy priority. Women’s rights and development have never been a foreign policy priority in most [member] states,” said Dr. Rita Sabat, assistant...