Community, inspiration, expertise - these are just a few of the words the 2023-2024 Women PeaceMaker Fellows Kay Soe, Shadi Rouhshahbaz, and Sveto Muhammad Ishoq used to describe their Fellowship experience. We asked Kay, Shadi, and Sveto about their Women PeaceMakers Fellowship experience, and here’s what they had to say. 

The Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ) awarded nine Women Waging Peace grants to peacebuilders in support of network members attending conferences and other activities relevant to their peacebuilding work. Established in 1999, the Women Waging Peace network has grown to be a powerful and inclusive international community of peacebuilding experts who are committed to ending cycles of violence through partnerships and initiatives. 

Women's Peacebuilding Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic is the first annual Women Waging Peace report, a new publication that provides a resource for policymakers and funders, created directly from the recommendations and priorities of women peacebuilders around the world. This report leverages the experiences and perspectives of women peace leaders to communicate clear priorities to funders and policymakers about what matters most for building sustainable and long-lasting peace. Watch the virtual event launch!

Although women are vital to the success and sustainability of peace efforts, women peacebuilders remain severely underfunded — and the funding that is available to them is often unresponsive to their needs and characterized by a power disparity between funder and funded.

Watch the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice event to highlight the necessity of flexible funding mechanisms to support women peacebuilders around the world. This event centers the experiences of women peacebuilders. Panelists address original research conducted by women peacebuilders on funding mechanisms, and additional panelists discuss the State Department-funded Supporting Her Empowerment: Women’s Inclusion for New Security (SHE WINS) initiative, which works to implement flexible and supportive funding mechanisms – including a Rapid Response Fund – for women-led organizations in a range of conflict-affected communities. Both these initiatives focus on building equitable relationships between funders and women peacebuilders, emphasizing that it is critical to co-create programming and ensure that women peacebuilders are treated as full partners through the planning and implementation processes.

This event highlights best practices for creating flexible and responsive funding mechanisms, understanding and centering the experiences of women peacebuilders. Adequate and responsive funding is the first step to ensure that women, in all of their diversity, are at the front line of addressing violence and leading more effective, inclusive, and equitable peacebuilding work.

Meet 2023-2024 Woman PeaceMaker Fellow Sveto Muhammad Ishoq from Afghanistan. Sveto Muhammad Ishoq is an award-winning Afghan activist and entrepreneur who empowers women economically and reshapes narratives about her country. Her work amplifies Afghan women's voices on both national and international platforms, particularly during the Taliban regime.

Meet 2023-2024 Woman PeaceMaker Fellow Shadi Rouhshahbaz from Iran. Shadi Rouhshahbaz is an Iranian peacebuilder, futurist and researcher with a focus on youth, gender, peace and security, with valuable contributions to organizations like Alfred Deakin Institute, UN Women HQ, UNICEF, UNIC in Iran, and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders.

Meet 2023-2024 Woman PeaceMaker Fellow Kay Soe from Burma. Kay Soe is a feminist and advocate specializing in Women, Peace, and Security policy. She advises women's networks in Burma and is an International Programs Executive Member of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)'s Asia Subregional Committee.

Part Three of the Is The World On Fire? podcast Women Peacemakers Series introduces Sveto Muhammad Ishoq, an award-winning women’s rights activist, TEDx speaker and social entrepreneur from Afghanistan. Her work on international platforms has been instrumental in amplifying Afghan women's voices during the Taliban regime. Sveto has founded several organizations, including Ayat, a social enterprise that employs Afghan women in the fashion industry and Chadari, an NGO that raises awareness about Afghan women and girls through community projects, storytelling, and awareness building. She talks with Leeya about Afghan Superwomen, her entrepreneurial mindset and the meaning of home when you live abroad.

Part Two for the Is The World On Fire? podcast Women Peacemakers Series shines a light on the work of Shadi Rouhshahbaz, a young Iranian peace builder, futurist and researcher. She shares her remarkable journey from underground activist to founder of PeaceMentors, the first young-women-led peace building initiative in Iran. In this episode she delves into the Iranian information gap, the "Women, Life, Freedom" Movement and the human cost of getting the world to look at you.

Part One of the Is The World On Fire? podcast Women Peacemakers Series kicks off with Kay Soe, a feminist and gender equality advocate from Burma with nearly two decades of experience in public policy, strategy development, evaluation and research related to gender equality, labour migration, and peace and security. Listen as they discuss the 70 year-old civil war that her home country is undergoing, the mental toll of working for peace, and why women must be included in every stage of the peace process.

In December 2023, the Kroc IPJ launched the report Addressing Chronic Violence from a Gendered Perspective: Fostering People-Centered Approaches at the National Level, which was created through the Women PeaceMakers program. 

The report makes the case for reconceptualizing violence in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and gender equality fields, building upon feminist conceptions of the continuum of violence to recognize that societal structures, systemic discrimination and even pervasive cultural norms can be sources of violence. This comprehensive view has significant implications for policy, demanding multisectoral strategies that address not just symptoms but the root causes. This report illuminates the pervasive issue of chronic violence, especially its gendered dimensions, and advocates for comprehensive approaches to understanding and addressing it.

This report was co-created by the three 2022-2023 Women PeaceMaker Fellows — Nattecia Nerene Bohardsingh from Jamaica, María Dolores Hernández Montoya from Mexico and Tania Cecilia Martínez from Honduras — and was supported by members of leading international peacebuilding organizations, who provided their own expertise and perspectives to shape this work. Watch the recording of the virtual report launch.

The 2023-2024 Women PeaceMaker Fellows completed a two-week residency here on the University of San Diego campus. The Women PeaceMakers, who are all building peace from the diaspora, connected with Kroc School students, faculty, and staff. Sveto Muhammad Ishoq from Afghanistan, Shadi Rouhshahbaz from Iran, and Kay Soe from Burma all shared their expertise and experiences in peacebuilding throughout the residency. 

The annual Women PeaceMakers event honored three women peacebuilders from around the world: Sveto Muhammad Ishoq from Afghanistan, Shadi Rouhshahbaz from Iran, and Kay Soe from Burma. All three women peacebuilders are working to build peace in their home countries from the diaspora. Learn more about their expertise as changemakers and gendered experiences in peacebuilding by watching the event recording.

The Uganda NextGen Framework: Guidelines for Intergenerational Peacebuilding provides a practical framework for creating intergenerational peacebuilding partnerships drawn from the lived experiences of women peacebuilders across Uganda and outlines key considerations when addressing generational divides and gaps in peacebuilding efforts. Watch the October 2023 virtual launch event for this report.

In September 2023, the Kroc IPJ launched a report on security risks that women peacebuilders face, created through the Women PeaceMakers program.

Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. The diversity of roles that women peacebuilders play, as well as the multiple factors that impact the types of risks they might face, need to be taken into account by international partners from the very beginning of a partnership.

Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships addresses how international partners who wish to work with women peacebuilders and support them in addressing the risks and insecurity they face need to recognize the scope and nature of peacebuilding work, which is often cross-cutting, overlapping with humanitarian response and development work. Understanding the nuances and breadth of women peacebuilders’ work is crucial to identifying the risks they face and providing them with effective legal, political and financial protection — and is thereby essential to creating partnerships that mitigate and address these risks. Through case studies, the report identifies challenges and opportunities drawn directly from the lived realities of women peacebuilders and their partners, as well as from experts working in the Women, Peace and Security field.

The 2023-2024 cohort of Fellows are all working to build peace in their countries of origin from another location. This cohort will focus their research on analyzing and addressing the challenges and benefits of peacebuilding from the diaspora. Organizing and activism from the diaspora can be a powerful way for peacebuilders to engage in reducing violence even if they have been displaced or chose to leave their country of origin. The Fellows, who come from Afghanistan, Burma, and Iran, bring unique and compelling experience working to build peace among some of the world’s most intractable conflicts.  

The Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice is excited to announce the recipients of the 2023 grants from the Women Waging Peace (WWP) network.

In June 2023, the Kroc IPJ launched a report on intergenerational peacebuilding among women, created through the Women Peacemakers program.

Compounding crises related to inequalities and violence, health, the environment and food and water insecurity affect people across generations, and solutions to build lasting peace require the involvement and leadership of people of all generations. This report focuses on how generation and age differences affect peacebuilding work among women by analyzing how women and women’s organizations are using intergenerational strategies and partnerships to build peace.

Intergenerational Peacebuilding among Women: Leveraging the Power of Collaboration argues that women’s and women’s organizations’ intergenerational peacebuilding efforts and potential must be better recognized, supported, developed and encouraged at the national and international levels alike. Through the case studies, the report shows examples of existing efforts, opportunities and challenges, with the goal of shaping and influencing how decision-makers and funders approach intergenerational partnerships and strategies as part of peacebuilding work.

Meet 2022-23 Women PeaceMakers Fellow Nattecia Nerene Bohardsingh from Jamaica. She is a lawyer and advocate that has worked in reparatory justice, gender-based violence, and human rights at the domestic and international level. She is the founder of Children of the Maafa, a civil society initiative that works to promote respect and freedom for people of African descent in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Meet 2022-23 Women PeaceMakers Fellow Tania Cecilia Martínez from Honduras. She focuses on democratic governance and the collaboration between government and civil society groups to improve citizen participation in their own governance and development contexts.

Meet 2022-23 Women PeaceMakers Fellow María Dolores Hernández Montoya from Mexico. She has worked in program design and implementation with various global organizations to strengthen international and domestic cooperation efforts for urban development and safety.

Junior peacebuilder Elizabeth Kemigisha and senior peacebuilder Harriet Nabankema from Flip the Narrative speak about their work in addressing violence and sexual harassment.

As part of the Uganda NextGen initiative, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.

Junior peacebuilder Grace Nakirijja Lwanga from Charter and Empowerment for Rights Uganda (CERU) and senior peacebuilder Harriet Adong from Foundation for Integrated Rural Development (FIRD) speak about their work in addressing Gender Based Violence.

As part of the Uganda NextGen initiative, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.

Junior peacebuilder Sarah Nakame and senior peacebuilder Immaculate Mukasa from Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW) speak about their work mentoring and advocating for the rights of young women.

As part of the Uganda NextGen initiative, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.

Junior peacebuilder Jalia Namusabi and senior peacebuilder Anne Mary Nantale from National Women Association for Social and Education Advancement (NWASEA) discuss their work addressing domestic violence as a community and legislative issue.

As part of the Uganda NextGen initiative, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.

Junior peacebuilder Rebecca Turyatunga and senior peacebuilder Fatuma Nakazzi from Sheema Women's Intergenerational Leaders for Interreligious Harmony discuss their interventions around religious intolerance.

As part of the Uganda NextGen initiative, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.

Junior peacebuilder Rashida Adong and senior peacebuilder Jay Abang from Women Peace Initiatives - Uganda and Health Rights Initiatives discuss how they are addressing gender stereotypes and discrimination in their community.

As part of the Uganda NextGen initiative, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.

​As part of the Commission on the Status of Women NGO Forum, the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice presented a panel focused on integenerational peacebuilding among women leaders, drawing from the expertise of the Institute's Women PeaceMaker Fellows and Uganda NextGen partners. The panelists provided concrete recommendations for working across generations to create more peaceful societies.

In Global Ed Leadership, Kroc IPJ Practice Fellows Aliza Carns and Cassie Barrett share what they learned from working with Women PeaceMakers Fellows.

In a two-part series, Women PeaceMaker Fellows were featured on the Kroc School’s Is the World on Fire? podcast. In Part I, Nattecia Nerene Bohardsingh, a lawyer and activist for civil rights in Jamaica, speaks about reparatory justice, advocating for marginalized communities, and working in the face of resistance. In Part II, Tania Martínez, a development professional from Honduras, and Dolores Hernández, a specialist in urban violence reduction from Mexico, speak about peacemaking in the Americas. 

At the annual Women PeaceMakers event on Dec. 6, 2022, the fellows shared more about their expertise as changemakers and gendered experiences in peacebuilding.

The Women PeaceMakers Fellowship hosted at the Kroc IPJs celebrated 20 years of supporting women peacemakers around the world.

Watch the documentary that first debuted at the Women PeaceMakers Event on November 5, 2019 and discover the power of the Women PeaceMakers program.

Meet the 2021 Women PeaceMakers at our annual event.