"1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize", Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, president and founder PeaceWomen Across the Globe (German, English)

In the 20 years before the Taliban came to power in August 2021, women in Afghanistan had been able, with difficulty, to reclaim some of their rights and their place in society. Until the takeover, we supported women to increase their knowledge about their rights in relation to the peace process at the time, so that they could help shape peace and have a voice in decision-making processes. (The programme has concluded.)

If peace in Afghanistan fails, the women stand to lose the gains they have made since the collapse of the Taliban regime. Sima Samar, Coordinator for PeaceWomen Across the Globe and government official in Afghanistan speaks out for women’s rights and their inclusion in shaping her country’s peace and future. For this she has paid a high price. And yet she remains steadfast and cautiously hopeful. (Interview from 2019.)

Our advocacy aims to create political impact and achieve a feminist vision of peace. The focus is on the implementation of key human rights instruments that form the basis for a peaceful and gender-just world.

Our political commitment is based on four international human rights standards, which form the basis for women's and human rights, gender-just peace policies and sustainable development. We are committed to their effective implementation, internationally and in Switzerland.

We are a member of the civil society platform Agenda 2030, which monitors Switzerland's implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our particular focus lies on Sustainable Development Goals 5 on gender equality and 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence – known as the Istanbul Convention – addresses gender-based and domestic violence in Europe and enforces the rights of victims of violence to support and protection. It defines gender-based violence as a human rights violation and a form of discrimination. The Convention entered into force in 2014; Switzerland ratified it in 2017. Civil society plays a significant role in monitoring its implementation.

Interview with our director Flurina Derungs on 25 years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on women's rights and gender equality and 20 years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 "Women, Peace and Security" (2020).

Together with our network partners and like-minded civil society organisations, we take a public stand on peace-related issues and on violations of women's and human rights, hold decision-makers accountable and raise our voices in solidarity with our partners when they demand compliance with international human rights standards in their countries.

Women are both the spark and the driving force behind the wave of protests in Iran that have swept the country since the violent death of Mahsa Amini in a re-education centre for "inappropriate dress" and have led to massive human rights violations by state forces. We stand in solidarity with women's and civil society organisations fighting for the right to self-determination – including in Iran. In addition to solidarity, however, women in Iran also need concrete support. We therefore call on civil society organisations, governments and the international community to back up their expressions of solidarity with women in Iran with concrete measures.

Das Thema «Verhüllungsverbot» und die anstehende Abstimmung dazu scheint Feminist*innen zu spalten. Wie kommt das? Was würde eine Annahme aus feministischer Sicht bedeuten? Kann eine in der Verfassung festgeschriebene Kleidervorschrift bestehende patriarchalische Strukturen anfechten? Oder ist diese Abstimmung reine Symbolpolitik? FriedensFrauen Weltweit fragt in diesem Text nach den möglichen längerfristigen Folgen einer Annahme der Initiative und den dahinterliegenden Diskursen.

Das Schweizer Stimmvolk sagte am 7. März 2021 mit 51,2% knapp ja zur Volksinitiative zum Verhüllungsverbot. In der Initiative ging es angeblich um die individuelle Freiheit von Frauen und ihren Schutz vor patriarchalen Zwängen. Wir erachten dieses Verbot als gefährlich. Es befeuert anti-muslimischen Rassismus und instrumentalisiert Frauenrechte im politischen Diskurs.

Am 13. Juni 2021 entscheiden Schweizer Stimmberechtigte über das Polizeimassnahmen-Gesetz. Zusammen mit einem breiten Bündnis von NGOs sagen wir NEIN zu diesem Gesetz. Es fördert nicht Sicherheit, sondern Willkür und es gefährdet die Grundrechte.

In our range of multimedia products you can listen to human rights and women's rights activists talk about their lives and work. You can also learn more about our and our partners’ projects and events.

"Being a feminist in Albania": Sevim Arbana, PeaceWoman and women's rights campaigner (English)

"Justice and peace for Afghanistan", Sima Samar, member of our Board and women’s rights and human rights defender, Afghanistan

Compact, interesting and relevant: in our printed and electronic newsletters, you can find out about our events and projects and our political activities in Switzerland and abroad.

In this interview with the Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps, Sima Samar lets her memories emerge. As a Hazara, a woman and a feminist, she is everything the Taliban reject. She left her country on 25 June 2021, before Kabul was taken by the Taliban. "Just a few days before I saw my country collapse." Sima Samar is a human rights activist and member of our International Board.
The interview is only available in French.

On 8th March women’s organisations around the world celebrate International Women’s Day and make their demands for peace and gender equality public. On this occasion, PeaceWomen Across the Globe (PWAG) – together with its worldwide network of peace activists – launched a workshop series on feminist peace politics, disarmament and demilitarisation. PWAG organises this workshop series with the support of Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

The peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government have been ongoing since September 2020, with only four women on the 21-member government negotiation team and none among the Taliban negotiators. We ask Sima Samar, founder of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and of Gawharshad University in Kabul, what the chances are for lasting peace.

With the adoption of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1997, Switzerland undertook to remove discrimination against women in all areas of life and to promote legal and actual gender equality. This explicitly includes the active promotion of disadvantaged groups until equality is achieved. Our demands show that there is still much need for action.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. As a result, tens of thousands of people have been killed, twelve million have been displaced, and famine is imminent. On 24 July 2024, the United States invited the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to peace talks in Switzerland to take place on 14 August. So far, similar initiatives to bring about a ceasefire have failed. Prominent Sudanese mediator and peace activist Rabab Baldo is part of our global network Feminists Connecting for Peace. She has decades of experience working for a just peace in Sudan and explains what needs to happen for the talks in Switzerland to succeed.