{"id":16751,"date":"2023-10-08T19:56:20","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T19:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/the-biggest-challenge-is-men-starting-wars-hillary-clinton-to-women-peace-activists\/"},"modified":"2023-10-08T19:56:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T19:56:21","slug":"the-biggest-challenge-is-men-starting-wars-hillary-clinton-to-women-peace-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=16751","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Biggest Challenge Is Men Starting Wars\u2019 \u2013 Hillary Clinton To Women Peace Activists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI did not come here to accept only this award,\u201d Muna Luqman began. \u201cI came here to seek justice and peace for the Yemeni people, for the war, for the military confrontations, and the economic collapse that happened, and that, unfortunately, the U.S. was part of.\u201d Luqman is Founder and Executive Director of Food4Humanity in Yemen, and Co-Founder of the Women\u2019s Solidarity Network and a Peace and Security Strategist. She spoke these words as one of four recipients of the Hillary Rodham Clinton 2023 Award from the Georgetown Institute For Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS).<\/p>\n

As I watched breaking news of the horrendous, multipronged, surprise attack on Israel by Hamas Saturday morning, killing hundreds of Israelis \u2013 and that Hamas is holding Israelis hostage \u2013 I thought of these women peace activists and of the innocent women of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, caught in the middle and suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, what we are seeing as challenges on the ground are immense. I might maybe just mention maybe a few. For the humanitarian side, we are seeing the obstruction of aid,\u201d that aid is being diverted to the armed groups, Luqman explained after receiving the award, which \u201cis depriving women and children of very needed aid.\u201d Adding, \u201cI think one of the major challenges that as a peace builder that I’ve had also and my colleagues, is the protection of human rights defenders and, people who are really trying to bring the real narrative, and the stories of the real people on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Luqman\u2019s fellow Hillary Rodham Clinton 2023 Awardees are: Christiane Amanpour<\/strong>, <\/strong>Chief International Anchor for CNN and Host of \u201cAmanpour\u201d <\/em>on PBS;<\/em> Alaa Salah, a Sudanese Democracy Activist, Civil Society Leader and Human Rights Activist; and Ghalia Alrahhal, Executive Director of the Mazaya Organization for Women\u2019s Development and Human Rights Defender, Syria. The awards were presented on Thursday, October 5, 2023 at Georgetown University by the GIWPS Executive Director, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Secretary Clinton and Georgetown University President John DeGioia.<\/p>\n

Women are much more at risk in war \u201csimply because of their gender\u201d \u2013 and severely under-reported<\/strong><\/p>\n

Global Citizen reports that women are at the greatest risk in war and violent conflict. \u201cSimply because of their gender, women and girls caught in the middle of war experience sexual violence, physical and verbal abuse, and barriers in accessing resources and having their human rights met; this is of course all on top of being directly exposed to conflict on the front lines and facing life-threatening conditions.\u201d UN Women reports the same, and that, \u201cAttacks against women human rights defenders are extremely under-reported and anonymized in official United Nations statistics.\u201d<\/p>\n

These women are fighting these trends, putting their own lives and their families at great risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn April the eighth, 2019, as the protests (in Sudan) dramatically grew, Alaa stood atop a car, draped in a white robe, and captivated the world’s attention with her powerful presence. She came to be known as Lady Liberty of the Sudanese Revolution. The iconic photograph depicted Allah as a beacon of hope,\u201d Verveer said introducing Alaa Salah and why she\u2019s receiving this award. \u201cThrough her courage and determination, Allah has galvanized not only her fellow citizens, but also the global community. Her influence has extended beyond her own generation, inspiring countless individuals, especially Sudanese women, to rise in demand their rightful place in shaping the course of their nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGhalia Alrahhal\u2019s <\/strong>journey from an arranged teen marriage in a town in Idlib, Syria, to becoming a transformative leader in women’s empowerment and peace advocacy exemplifies the remarkable impact an individual can have in shaping a more just society,\u201d is how Verveer began Alrahhal\u2019s story. \u201cAt the outset, she engaged in relief work, coordinating efforts to bring essential medicines to cities ravaged by conflict,\u201d and then converted her hair salon into a meeting place for women called Mazaya. \u201cIt was the first women’s empowerment organization to provide vocational training, educational courses, skills development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alrahhal expanded her centers into other communities, even in the face of death threats, harassment, abuse and violent attacks, including the death of her son from a bullet. \u201cShe founded the Syrian women’s political movement with others to provide women with the political awareness and tools to engage in peace talks over her country’s future, and to strengthen their representation at the time in UN-backed negotiations to end the war.\u201d Ghalia Alrahal could not leave Syria to accept the award, so she sent a video.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge is men starting wars.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In response to a question a Georgetown student submitted about what the biggest challenge is to women\u2019s peace and security over the next 10 years, Secretary Clinton said, \u201cI think the biggest challenge is men starting wars. And I don’t think they have enough to do.\u201d After the applause that followed, she added, \u201cWhen men fight for a long time, it’s what they know to do. Governing is really hard. Making decisions about how you’re going to get food to people, get agriculture going, get healthcare provided, open up schools, that takes a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary Clinton \u2013 and Christianne Amanpour, when she received her award at that event \u2013 emphasized the need for more women\u2019s voices in the most pressing challenges of the day. \u201cThere are some incredibly powerful forces at work around the world. Some of them like climate change, which we are seeing unfold in real time before our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

From war to artificial intelligence, to the fight for democracy, Clinton pointed out that, \u201cThese forces impact every one of us, but they do disproportionately impact women. It’s no surprise that the drive to diminish women’s rights is actually linked to the quest for political power. Many leaders use women as a reason for pulling back on rights, use women’s lives and aspirations as a challenge rather than an opportunity to existing power structures,\u201d and she emphasized that is why it\u2019s so critical to keep telling women\u2019s stories and celebrating women\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

We need more women\u2019s stories on the front lines \u2013 \u201cbe truthful not neutral\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s imperative that we have women’s perspectives in journalism, just as we must have in national security and diplomacy. We need to hear stories about what’s actually happening in people’s real lives,\u201d Secretary Clinton insisted, adding, \u201cWomen are agents of change, and women’s stories are powerful reminders of what is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

To tell those stories, Christianne Amanpour shared her mantra, \u201cbe truthful not neutral,\u201d because there not equal sides in these situations. \u201cWe have to be truthful, not neutral. What’s happening on one side of an aisle, wherever it might be, let’s say, to destroy democracy, is exactly not what’s happening and not equal to those who are trying to defend it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For lessons in resilience from the women of Ukraine, read my Forbes article <\/em><\/strong>here<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n