Nobel Women's Initiative

For three days over 100 women from around the world – activists, academics, security experts, corporate leaders, and Nobel Peace Laureates - are coming together to forge a new security, and a future free of sexual violence in conflict.

Women activists on the ground in Israel and Palestine work tirelessly every day to build peace and justice in the region. The Nobel Women's Initiative will visit the region to bear witness to their struggles, creativity, and inspiring work to build a sustainable peace. The delegation will focus on hearing the perspectives of women on both sides of the conflict and providing opportunities for people to come together. We aim to spotlight their strategies for change.

At this year’s G8/G20 we need Canada and the rest of the world to deliver on their pledge to help developing countries deal with climate change, and to make firm commitments to tackle global poverty. The world is watching and waiting.

Follow the Nobel Women’s Initiative as we descend on Toronto with Climate Action Network Canada for the G8/G20. From June 18 – June 27 we will be posting videos, photos and daily updates on our blog.

The first ever Review Conference of the International Criminal Court is being held from May 31 to June 11 in Uganda. The International Criminal Court has the potential to be a powerful tool in the struggle for gender justice – it has criminalized rape as a weapon of war and other atrocities that specifically target women and girls. The Court provides a glimmer of hope to the millions of women who have lived the daily reality of armed conflict and sexual violence.

Follow our delegation, led by Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai, through video, blog posts, and daily updates from the review conference.

The International Gender Justice Dialogue will bring together an outstanding group of gender experts, feminist legal theorists, peace mediators, legal practitioners, jurists, women’s rights advocates, policy makers, members of the media, activists, and more. For the first time ever, such a group will identify develop a strategic, shared agenda for advancing gender justice around the globe.

The Tribunal is a women-directed and women-centered justice and advocacy initiative.  Judges will hear testimony from several women of Burma who will share their personal stories of surviving human rights violations and crimes under miliatry rule in Burma.  Their voices, and the findings and recommendations of the judges, will be directed to the Burmese regime and the international community.  The Tribunal will provide a powerful spotlight on the oppression of women of Burma in order to support the development of a just and peaceful Burma.

Some of the testimonials below contain graphic information which can be disturbing. Please join us in demanding that such painful experiences are responded to with justice and solidarity.

Each year since 1991, tens of thousands of activists from around the world have taken part in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign. The campaign’s central messages – women’s rights are human rights and violence against women constitutes a violation of human rights – have been a rallying call of the women’s movement. For these 16 days, Nobel Women’s Initiative is spotlighting stories about women activists around the globe.

There are currently more people living in formal democracies that at any other time in history. Yet women continue to be on the margins of democracy, underrepresented and limited in their ability to exercise their rights and participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect their lives.

This three-day conference in Antigua, Guatemala is bringing together more than 100 women from around the world to examine the challenges of democracy and democratization through the lens of women's experiences.

Here, conference delegates will keep us up to date with stories, sights, and sounds from the ground, illuminating along the way the voices and ideas of the exceptional women whose courageous efforts to make change deserve global support. Bookmark this page to follow along on this important journey.

The Thai-Burma border, South Sudan, and Chad will be visited this summer by peace prize laureates of the Nobel Women's Initiative and prominent human rights activists. Why? So the delegation can lend support to women on the ground in promoting messages and ideas about human rights and peace-building in the regions.

Click here for background on the delegation, its members, and its objectives. Bookmark this page to follow along on this important journey.

Here, delegation members will keep us up to date with stories, sights, and sounds from the ground, illuminating along the way the voices and ideas of the exceptional women whose courageous efforts to make change deserve global support.