Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: 2nd Edition
The stories highlight the mentees of the 2nd edition of the OSCE Women’s Peace Leadership Programme, an initiative of the former OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid. The Programme aims to strengthen the ability of women to meaningfully engage and influence peace processes at all levels. It is a part of the OSCE Gender Issues Programme’s flagship project WIN for Women and Men, which covers the Networking platform for Women Leaders including Peacebuilders and Mediators. The WIN project works with OSCE-supported networks and gives rise to new networks, fostering women’s participation and leadership, as well as broader men’s engagement in achieving gender equality.
Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: Tina Kurath (Switzerland), Maureen Walschot (Belgium) and Nina Ullom (US)Tina Kurath grew up in the tranquillity and prosperity of Switzerland. The mountainous centre of Europe is known for its staunch neutrality, political stability, and high socio-economic standards. Yet, it is also a country which had a long road to women’s suffrage, comparatively speaking. Maureen Walschot grew up in Belgium, an equally prosperous and developed country, one at the heart of political power in Europe. Nina Ullom was raised under the guidance of a forward-thinking mother and carried with her the ideals of independence and empowerment while growing up in Chantilly, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C. Her childhood, shadowed by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (the Pentagon was only a few miles from her school) and the subsequent geopolitical turmoil, gave her a heightened awareness of the global impact of local actions.Story
Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: Farangis Davronova (Tajikistan) and Ana Nemsadze (Georgia)“When I was first told that I hold strong feminist values, I laughed and said, ‘Oh, I'm not a feminist’,” recalls Farangis Davronova. Coming from Tajikistan, a country with strong patriarchal influences, Farangis initially did not strongly embrace the idea of women’s rights, peace, and security.“There are many stereotypes surrounding feminism, and because of my preconceived notions I used to think there was nothing good about it," she says.Story
Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: Hanna Hirose (Germany/Japan), Maylinda Bajrami (Albania) and Guncha Annageldiyeva (Turkmenistan)It is often the earliest encounters with the world's harsh realities that can have the most profound impact. “I was shocked to see images of children my age carrying guns as child soldiers in conflict zones. I felt inequality and, at the same time, helplessness,” Hanna Hirose recounts, marking the moment a lifelong interest in peacebuilding processes seeded in her consciousness.Story
Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: Anna Popsui (Ukraine), Farima Nawabi (Afghanistan) and Galyna Kotliuk (Ukraine)Anna Popsui, Ukrainian activist and Head of the Young Peacebuilding Leaders (YPL) network, remembers first encountering sexism and gender-based discrimination during her first year at university. At the time she was studying International Relations and English for the Bachelor's Degree. Anna had hardly imagined encountering institutionalised sexism in the supposedly “enlightened” halls of academia, yet she quickly began to notice everyday discrimination stretching like a shadow across her new life.Story
Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: Gulkhanim Mammadova (Azerbaijan) and Milena Reljic (Serbia)In the male-dominated field of peace and security, Milena Reljic and Gulkhanim Mammadova are both pioneers in their own right. Milena is a psychologist turned Roma gender expert and an advocate for the Romani community in Serbia. Gulkhanim is a researcher focused on gender and conflict transformation in Baku-based think tank Topchubashov Center. Both have overcome adversity, faced scepticism and fought against outright resistance. Both have succeeded in carving niches of influence and advocacy to become leading examples of the crucial role of women in peace and security in their communities.Story