Women, Peace, and Equality: Reclaiming the Conversation

Photo by zibik on Unsplash

By Yecenu Sasetu

Thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, the world still grapples with the same questions: how do we make peace real, and how do we make it inclusive? These were the questions that anchored a powerful consultative session convened by the NGO CSW/NY Peace and Gender Equality Working Group, a space where advocates, researchers, and practitioners came together to reflect on what peace truly means for women and girls in today’s world.

The discussion brought together an inspiring lineup of collaborators and panelists: Dr. Kristen Ali Eglinton (Executive Director and Co-founder, Footage Foundation); Dr. Nike Oduwole (Second Vice President, Lagos State Chapter, National Council of Women Societies); Dr. İlke Dağlı‑Hustings (Director General and Head of Partnerships and Growth, SeeD); and Ms. Marie Sophie Pettersson (Senior Humanitarian and Peace-building Adviser, Oxfam). Each offered unique insights on how women, often at the frontline of crises, are also the backbone of recovery and peace-building.

Yet, the conversation was more than academic. It was personal.

Consider the story of Hafsat Mohammed, a former radio journalist and civil society activist in north-east Nigeria. On a seemingly ordinary day, she was travelling through the bush when insurgents stopped her minibus, forced everyone out, beat them, and made the guns of conflict feel uncomfortably close. Rather than retreat into fear, Hafsat transformed her trauma into action, organising inter-faith reconciliation dialogues, setting up her own NGO, and challenging extremist narratives in schools and markets. Her story reminds us that peacebuilders emerge not just from comfort zones, but from the mess of lived violence.

That lived experience resonated strongly during the session. For many participants, it was striking to learn that the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) last addressed “Women and Armed Conflict” in 1998. More than two decades later, the world has changed dramatically, yet the silence around women’s peace-building roles persists. The panelists argued that, as we approach the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, there is an urgent need to bring this theme back to the CSW platform.

Breakout sessions were vibrant and passionate, as participants explored questions like: In what actionable ways can voice promote a culture of peace? The responses were powerful: “strengthen feminist networks,” “value the courage of vulnerability,” “bring women to decision-making tables,” and “campaign for international organisations to take a stand.” One participant summed it up perfectly: “A peaceful world has justice at its centre.”

When asked how the international community can respond to emerging crises such as gender apartheid, participants called for accountability and sustained funding for women-led peace efforts. They also emphasised dismantling the “imperialist mindset” that continues to shape global policy and building movements that centre respect, dignity, and inclusion.

To close the session, attendees were invited to answer one question symbolically: Do you commit to continuing the conversation on peace and gender equality in your local community, country, or region? As they exited, they placed beans into “yes” or “no” jars- a simple yet profound gesture.

For Shades of Us, our answer was a resounding yes. We believe that peace and gender equality are inseparable; to build one, you must nurture the other. Every story we tell, every campaign we lead, every conversation we hold is a small seed planted toward a more peaceful and equitable world. Because peace is not the absence of conflict; it is the presence of justice, empathy, and shared humanity.

And if Hafsat’s story teaches us anything, it is that even in the most fragile corners of the world, women continue to build peace, not with weapons or power, but with purpose, courage, and conviction.