Women & Peace: Four Interesting Angles as Seen in the News
Every month, the Towards Equality team selects a few pieces we’ve seen in the press that caught our attention.
Here are four picks in relation to “women and peace”, our focus theme in December 2022, as featured in our newsletter In the Balance.
“These women are bringing some peace to war-stricken Congo” – October 2022
“I say the women of Congo are strong because they don’t remain victims. They become actors of change.” This National Geographic piece tells the story of how women opened the way for discussions between the rebels and the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo, by taking the risk and going to speak to commanders themselves. It paints a picture through detailed storytelling and gives the voice to civil peacebuilders, activists and local UN representatives. → Read on National Geographic
“The war has worsened disparities for women in Ukraine” – May 2022
Three months into the war in Ukraine, a report titled “Rapid Gender Analysis Of Ukraine” showed how the conflict was already disproportionately burdening women. NPR uses this publication as a starting point, and invites one of their correspondents for a conversation where she brings in examples from what she saw and heard on the field. It’s a 6-minute listen discussing gender-based violence before and during war. → Listen or read on NPR
“How Syrian women are fighting a war – and patriarchy” – April 2021
A month after the ten-year mark since the Syrian uprising broke out, Al Jazeera put together a collection of portraits. We meet a former hairdresser, a volunteer rescuer, an activist, an architect and a lawyer. Five women with different stories and a common thread: fighting the patriarchy in times of war. → Read on Al Jazeera
“Women and war: Stories from the other front” – May 2022
“Stories of war often focus on the men who wage them. But how might we see conflicts differently when women tell the story?” This is the question that CBC Radio tries to answer in this episode of their ‘IDEAS’ series. To do so, they interviewed women (activists and storytellers) from different regions of the world to try and piece together a bigger, global picture. → Listen on CBC Radio