No women, no peace. Blog | No Women No Peace

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Join No women, no peace. on 1 February 2012 in London for the UK premiere screening of Peace Unveiled, part of the Women, War and Peace documentary series, first aired on PBS in late 2011.

Peace Unveiled is an excellent documentary that follows Afghan women as they seek to be included in peace talks in late 2009 and early 2010. This will be the first UK public screening of the documentary. Watch the promo here.

The screening (1 hour) will be followed by a Q&A session with Horia Mosadiq, Afghan women’s rights activist and Amnesty International’s Afghanistan Researcher. The discussion will be chaired by Chitra Nagarajan, Director of Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) and will focus on women's rights in Afghanistan, the participation of Afghan women in recent and upcoming peace talks, and what actions you can take to support the work of women’s rights activists.

Event Details:

Date: Wednesday 1 February 2012

Time: 18.15 – 20.15. Doors open at 18.00. This event is very full, so do provide enough time to find a spot. The screening will commence at 18.30, so please arrive early to find a seat.

Location: Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA

Cost: Free

RSVP: To reserve a spot please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with ‘WWP Screening’ in the subject line or RSVP on Facebook. And remember to invite your friends!

About the film: (Watch the promo here) When the U.S. troop surge was announced in late 2009, women in Afghanistan knew that the ground was being laid for peace talks with the Taliban. Peace Unveiled follows three women who immediately began to organise to make sure that women’s rights don’t get traded away in the deal. One is a savvy parliamentarian who participated in writing the Afghan constitution that guarantees equality for women; another, a former midwife who is one of the last women’s rights advocates alive in Kandahar; and the third, a young activist who lives in a traditional family in Kabul. Convinced that the Taliban will have demands that jeopardise women’s hard-earned gains, they manoeuvre against formidable odds to have their voices heard in a peace jirga and high peace council. We go behind Kabul’s closed doors as the women’s case is made to U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, General David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who promises the women that “peace and justice can’t come at the cost of women and women’s lives.” But will this promise be kept?

Narrated by Tilda Swinton.

About Horia Mosadiq: Horia Mosadiq has over 17 years of experience in campaigning on human rights issues, justice and gender issues in Afghanistan and was previously the Director of the Afghanistan Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC) and Senior Advisor to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and Media Commissioner in Elections Commission. An experienced journalist in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Horia is currently the Afghanistan researcher for Amnesty International and a regular contributor to Afghan media on women’s human rights. Horia Mosadiq won the National Human Rights Award in 2007and has been ranked among the Bravest Women in the world by Glamour magazine in the UK in 2011.

About Women, War and Peace: Women, War & Peace is a bold new five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain. The vast majority of today’s conflicts are not fought by nation states and their armies, but rather by informal entities: gangs and warlords using small arms and improvised weapons. The series reveals how the post-Cold War proliferation of small arms has changed the landscape of war, with women becoming primary targets and suffering unprecedented casualties. Yet they are simultaneously emerging as necessary partners in brokering lasting peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict. With depth and complexity, Women, War & Peace spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the centre of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security, and reframing our understanding of modern warfare.

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After the International Conference on Afghanistan in Bonn on Monday, Afghan women’s rights activists are focusing on the future. Here is a quick overview of how the conference went and reactions to the conference outcomes:

At a press conference on Monday, the Afghan Women's Network issued a Declaration, outlining their recommendations on Bonn and beyond. The document reaffirms their commitment to building a more secure and equitable Afghanistan where women have a strong role in peace building and nation building. The declaration is based on consultations with 500 women leaders representing 500,000 women from more than 20 provinces in Afghanistan. The recommendations from the document focus on an inclusive peace process, continued support for women’s empowerment, and prioritisation of women’s security as a key indicator in transition.

Members of the AWN met with foreign ministers, media and delegates to discuss these issues during the civil society conference and from the sidelines of the official Bonn conference. Selay Ghaffar, executive director of Humanitarian Assistance for Women and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA), was one of only two civil society representatives selected to speak at the official conference and tasked with highlighting the needs and issues affecting the women of Afghanistan.

Thanks to the efforts of Ghaffar, the AWN, members of civil society and supportive government delegates (Canada, India and European representatives were the strongest supporters of women's rights), the outcome document from the conference states that the rights of women must be respected in the peace and reconciliation process. While the document stipulates that any agreement on the future of Afghanistan must respect the constitution including women’s rights, it was less clear on women’s inclusion in the peace process or what practical steps will be taken to ensure action and implementation. The document merely mentioned that the peace process would be inclusive ‘regardless of gender’.

UK delegates voiced some commitment to the rights of women with Lynne Featherstone MP attending the civil society conference and William Hague tweeting that “Women must be part of Afghan political process: message from Afghan women delegates, reflected in #Bonn conclusions.”

With more negotiations set to take place and a strategic pact between Afghanistan and Britain due to be signed soon, there are plenty of opportunities for women’s rights to be firmly incorporated and women’s participation guaranteed in the transition process.

Key Documents:

• AWN Declaration
• UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has released the following statement on the conference: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=701589882
• The outcome document for the conference is now available (4 mentions of women) here.
• Statement from Foreign Secretary William Hague on Bonn blueprint for long-term engagement with Afghanistan:http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=701858582
• WIlliam Hague's speech from the conference can be found here.

Check out our page on Twitter @Nowomennopeace to review our coverage of the civil society conference and the official conference. Follow the hash tags #Bonn2 and #Afghanwomen.

Image caption: Members of the AWN pose in front of the green scarves photo wall at Bonn

Image credit: CARE/Puthupparambil

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On December 5th the International Conference on Afghanistan took place in Bonn, Germany with delegates attending from over 90 countries and organisations. We were in Bonn and attended a conference of civil society representatives over the weekend as well as the official conference. Follow us on Twitter @Nowomennopeace for coverage of the civil society conference and the official conference. Follow the hash tags #Bonn2 and #Afghanwomen.

At a press conference in Bonn on 5th December, ten Afghan Women Activists have voiced their serious concerns about the future of Afghan women.

“The world’s leaders are gathering in Germany to discuss the future of Afghanistan”, said Samira Hamidi, Country Director of the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN).  While many issues such as withdrawal dates of troops and other matters are being discussed, Hamidi insists: “Women’s rights are not negotiable. We will not accept for our country to move back in time and take away our freedom and participation.  We’ve come with our proposals on how to ensure this does not happen.”

The ten representatives of AWN are in Bonn, Germany to make recommendations to the Afghan government and the international community on how women can and must be included in a stable and democratic Afghanistan post-2014. Their voyage marks the culmination of a year of consultation and advocacy in the run-up to the Bonn Conference, through which thousands of Afghan women were consulted on reconciliation, reintegration, transition, and international engagement beyond 2014.  Their message is clear: women need to be included in decision-making related to peace and security if the protection of women’s rights is to be assured.  The ten women will meet with senior-level policymakers and media outlets to advance women’s specific recommendations.

The women bring with them a series of recommendations for the participants of the Bonn Conference, ranging from practical ways of including women in the transition and peace processes, to their priorities for the future of international aid, to how they feel Afghanistan can best cooperate with its neighbours.

But they also bring their fears.  “So far, we’ve had very little assurance that the rights of Afghan women won’t be sacrificed in the quest for a political settlement to the conflict.  Our ability to work, to go to school, to seek justice in the courts, has not been guaranteed – not if the plans and progression of transition thus far is a measure to go by.  What is peace if only 50% of the population feel secure?  That is no peace at all,” said Mahbouba Seraj, a women’s rights activist and another member of the group.

Check back with us for analysis of the conference soon.

Update: Read the latest blog posts from zohra moosa of ActionAid who is attending the Bonn conference with GAPS Director Chitra Nagarajan and writing on The F Word blog:

• Day 1
• Day 2 part 1 
• Day 2 part 2

Key Documents:

• UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has released the following statement on the conference: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=701589882
• The outcome document for the conference is now available (4 mentions of women) here.
• Statement from Foreign Secretary William Hague on Bonn blueprint for long-term engagement with Afghanistan: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=701858582
• WIlliam Hague's speech from the conference can be found here.

Update (6 Dec): Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in London today to sign a new pact with the UK government. Will women's rights be included? Read this blog post on the Guardian Poverty Matters blog, written by ActionAid's zohra moosa on what Bonn means for the future role of Afghan women in the transition process.

Image caption: Members of the AWN pose in front of the green scarves photo wall at Bonn

Image credit: CARE/Puthupparambil

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This past Monday we met with Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Afghanistan, to present 22,000 signatures gathered through our joint petition with members of the No women, no peace. campaign, including Oxfam (Channel 16), Women for Women International UK, Amnesty International UK, Womankind Worldwide, and CARE International UK.

The meeting was attended by International Violence Against Women Champion Lynne Featherstone MP and representatives from our member organisations. We presented all of your signatures and discussed the issues highlighted in the petition, including the need for women's participation and the need for women's rights to be respected in any agreement on the future of Afghanistan. The meeting took place just ahead of the international conference that will be held in Bonn, Germany on December 5th on the future of Afghanistan.

Afghan women are standing up to be heard and cannot be abandoned at this crucial time. Activists in the UK and internationally have raised their voices to ensure that their governments champion women's rights in Afghanistan, including the recommendations of the Afghan Women's Network.

The Afghan Women’s Network, a network of women and women’s NGOs working to empower Afghan women and ensure their equal participation in Afghan society, is asking the international community to: 

1. Use their influence to ensure women have an effective voice and role in all levels of the peace process: at the national, provincial and district levels. 
2. Work with the Afghan government to ensure that all the human rights in the constitution are upheld in any peace settlement. These include women's right to an education and the right to participate in political life with a guaranteed 30% female quota in parliament. 
3. Increase support to development programmes that promote women's rights and wellbeing in political, social and economic spheres.

Positive change is possible, and the Afghan government is showing that diligent advocacy by Afghan women and international activists is working. Afghan President Karzai announced that 32% of the official Afghan delegation to the Bonn conference will be women, a huge step up from the 1 woman that was invited to the 2010 Kabul conference as a civil society representative. While this does not immediately mean change for women, it is a positive move towards including the issues that affect women.

You have asked your government to champion the rights of Afghan women at Bonn and going forward. Minister Burt stated his support for the women of Afghanistan, saying:

"Women have an important role to play in the development of a stable and prosperous Afghanistan. While women continue to face enormous challenges in their daily lives, I am encouraged by signs of progress and welcome their involvement, alongside wider civil society, at the Bonn Conference.  The UK Government is working to support the empowerment of women in Afghanistan and will continue to do so after our combat troops leave at the end of 2014."

Read the full blog post about the meeting on the Foreign Office website.

We hope this means that the UK will act as a high level champion of women's rights at Bonn, taking  on the recommendations of the Afghan Women's Network. The Foreign Minister will be representing the UK at the international conference and Lynne Featherstone MP will be representing the UK at the civil society conference.

We will be reporting back on developments at the conference next week and the civil society conference that will come beforehand. Be sure to check back on our blog or follow us on Twitter (follow the hash tags #Bonn2 and #Afghanwomen) for the most up to date news from Bonn.

Image credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Image caption: Members of Gender Action for Peace and Security meet with Minister Alistair Burt and Minister Lynne Featherstone to present signatures from petition in support of women's rights in Afghanistan.

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Thank you to all of you who signed our joint petition in support of the rights of Afghan women. Now that the petition has closed, we can announce that we gathered over 20,000 signatures (!!) between our members running the petition, our supporters holding events and all the word spreading that you have done! We are thrilled with the result and presented our petition to the government at a meeting this week. For more details on the meeting we had at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, click here.

On December 5th, a conference will take place in Bonn, Germany with delegates from over 90 states and organisations to discuss the future of Afghanistan. Foreign Secretary William Hague will be representing the UK at the conference. Your signatures have told him that the UK public expects him to support the rights of Afghan women at Bonn and going forward.

The basic asks being made by Afghan women's rights activists are simple: women should be included and women's rights should be respected. What does this mean in practice? Well, for example, Afghan women should form at least 30% of the participants at peace talks at the international, national and community levels. The official Afghan delegation to Bonn has recently been announced as having 13 women out of a delegation of 40. That is 32.5% Afghan women, a step which hopefully translates into real respect for women's rights in negotiations at Bonn.

Learn more about what women's rights activists are asking for by reading the Afghan Women's Network's paper on Bonn, along with ActionAid UK's recent policy briefing on the conference.

Women's rights activists in Afghanistan are risking their lives to stand up for their rights and our government needs to demonstrate that it is sticking to its promises to support them. Write a letter to your MP asking them to champion this issue and ask William Hague to ensure that women's rights are respected at Bonn. 

More updates on Bonn and other developments on women's rights in Afghanistan are to come.

Image credit: Women for Women International UK

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Our petition in support of women's rights in Afghanistan is now closed. As a result of our joint petition also run by our members Amnesty International UK, Women for Women International UK, CARE International UK, Oxfam GB (Channel 16) and Womankind Worldwide, in addition to the brilliant work of all our member organisations and supporters, we have gathered 22,000 signatures.

Activists in the UK and internationally have raised their voices to ensure that their governments champion women's rights in Afghanistan, including the recommendations of the Afghan Women's Network.

The Afghan Women’s Network, a network of women and women’s NGOs working to empower Afghan women and ensure their equal participation in Afghan society, is asking the international community to:

1. Use their influence to ensure women have an effective voice and role in all levels of the peace process: at the national, provincial and district levels.
2. Work with the Afghan government to ensure that all the human rights in the constitution are upheld in any peace settlement. These include women's right to an education and the right to participate in political life with a guaranteed 30% female quota in parliament.
3. Increase support to development programmes that promote women's rights and wellbeing in political, social and economic spheres.

We presented your petition signatures to the UK government and discussed the issues facing Afghan women, reiterating the petition's key asks. Read our blog post about the meeting here and the Foreign Office post here.

Image caption: Members of GAPS meet with Foreign Office Minister responsible for Afghanistan, Alistair Burt MP and International Violence Against Women Champion, Lynne Featherstone MP to present signatures from joint petition. Image credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Today marks the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a day designated by the UN to call attention to the need to prevent and eliminate violence against women.

Yesterday, I attended an event in Parliament organised by the Gender and Development Network to mark the day and discuss tackling violence against women and girls. The panel speakers included Lynne Featherstone MP (Champion on International Violence Against Women), Rt. Hon Alan Duncan MP (Minister of State for International Development), Netsai Mushonga (Director of the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe) and Selay Ghaffar (Executive Director, Humanitarian Assistance for Women and Children in Afghanistan).

While much of the discussion focused on the challenges and costs of violence against women, what struck me most is the connection between conflict and violence against women. Not only is violence against women used as a weapon of war, but domestic violence against women tends to increase in and around times of public violence. Selay Ghaffar noted that over 75% of women in Afghanistan had experienced domestic violence in a country that has faced three decades of conflict. Netsai Mushonga noted that when women are actors in peacebuilding instead of just seen as victims of violence, this is a strong step in the struggle to end violence against women. The discussion highlighted the need for women to be part of peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in conflict areas in order to prevent and address the high levels of violence against women associated with conflict.

The need for education and empowerment of women, security and justice reform, and women's political participation were some of the key instruments identified in tackling violence against women and girls. To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, join us in asking the UK government to make sure that the voices of women are heard in upcoming discussions on the future of Afghanistan so that issues like this are addressed.

Sign the petition and write a letter to your MP to support the rights of Afghan women.

Image credit: Womankind Worldwide/ Nocem Collado

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We are fast approaching a major international conference in Bonn, Germany on the 5th of December, where delegates from 90 states and organisations will meet to discuss the future of Afghanistan.

Ten years after the UK and its allies entered Afghanistan, it is still considered one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. While some progress has been made since 2001 in the areas of women's access to education and participation in public life, Afghanistan is still a very dangerous place to work for women's rights. Also, as a new report by UNAMA states, the enforcement of laws meant to protect women are lacking proper implementation.

Many women in Afghanistan are worried that in the rush to exit Afghanistan, women's rights and hard-won gains will be traded away in discussions like those at Bonn. That is why we are focusing our efforts on petitioning for the governments involved to ensure that any agreement made at Bonn and in the discussions that follow, uphold women's rights and include women's voices.

Take Action

There is still time to sign our joint petition to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who will be representing the UK at Bonn. We need him to champion these issues at the conference. Tell the UK government that women's rights are human rights and should be respected in any agreement on the future of Afghanistan. 

Sign the petition and write a letter to your MP to support the rights of Afghan women. 

Image credit: Womankind Worldwide/ Nocem Collado

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UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UN SCR 1325) on women, peace and security is a key focus of our campaign. The resolution is ground-breaking in that it formally recognised the unique impact of conflict on women and the value of women's participation in peace and reconciliation activities. Implementation of this resolution has been slow however, and the women who face these issues have yet to see its impact. Several states have written action plans to outline actions for the implementation of UN SCR 1325, including the UK. 

The Afghan Women's Network (AWN) has been advocating for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Afghanistan. The AWN has been involved in bringing awareness of UN SCR 1325 to Afghan women and men and have recently released an excellent report on its implementation in the country. Read the full report here.

This report is highly recommended for those wishing to find out more about women's rights in the context of conflict in Afghanistan.

Make sure that the voices of Afghan women are included in upcoming talks in Bonn, Germany on the future of Afghanistan. 

Sign the petition and write a letter to your MP to support the rights of Afghan women. You can also download the petition and gather signatures in your area.

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