In autumn 2025, we launched a campaign on our social media platforms to highlight the lack of financial support for peacebuilding. We pointed out how the exorbitant sums spent on armaments could instead be channelled into peacebuilding measures – particularly those led by women.

Political work is a core concern of our organisation and of Feminists Connecting for Peace, our global network. The network and its activities provide a space for activists and women's organisations to share ideas and practices, work together on strategies and carry out political work together. Through the network we contribute to our goal of creating political impact.

What images do the words "peace processes" evoke in your mind? Do you imagine years of negotiations culminating in a ceremony where the parties to the conflict sign an agreement, followed by a photo of the handshake that goes around the world? We questioned and deconstructed this common perception and took an in-depth look at peace processes focusing on the question: "How do women influence peace processes?’"

Militarisation means more than "just" spending on armed forces: this spending is the consequence of a security policy geared towards war. As a feminist peace organisation, we oppose the claim that more weapons lead to more security. We demand demilitarisation and disarmament because that is the only way to achieve genuine peace and comprehensive security.

More than 2,700 billion US Dollars. That is the global military expenditure in 2024. It marks the steepest rise in such spending since 1988. This stark figure underscores a world increasingly reliant on military solutions to achieve security. In sharp contrast: PeaceWomen Across the Globe firmly stands for non-violent conflict transformation. We believe that lasting security can only be achieved through inclusive dialogue and not through weapons or military deterrence.

In the magazine Fem*Fém, our colleagues Liv Halperin and Camille Bernheim write about promoting creative agency, maintaining peacebuilding and leveraging political opportunities as crucial factors for creating a peaceful society after armed conflict in their article “Sustaining peacebuilding efforts in post-armed conflict settings”. The multilingual magazine Fem*Fém is published by the Association for Feminist Science in Switzerland FemWiss.

In this special edition of our newsletter, you can find out which stages peace processes go through and where and how women exert influence in order to drive peace processes and prevent setbacks. We have added an extra, detachable double page so that you can use the graphic illustration of peace processes and the accompanying text yourself. You will also find out how our partner in Nepal is helping to ensure that the generations affected by war are heard and recognised as victims of war violence through intergenerational Women's Peace Tables. The meeting with peace activists from our Feminists Connecting for Peace network, which took place in Bern at the beginning of the year, is another focus of our newsletter.

In this issue of our newsletter, our Ukrainian partners report on the changes they have noticed over the last two years in the participants of our meetings with war-affected women from Ukraine. In another article, you will find out which topics were at the centre of discussions for 17 peace activists from 10 Asian countries at the network meeting in Manila. You can also find out what was on the programme during the visit of Sudanese peace activist Rabab Baldo and Colombian human rights lawyer Luz Marina Monzón Cifuentes in Bern.

We use media contributions and interviews to bring our work and positions to the attention of a wider audience. As part of our advocacy work, we facilitate interviews with partners and members of our network Feminists Connecting for Peace.

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In an interview with our Ukrainian programme coordinator Olena Zinenko, she recalls the first days and months after the Russian attack on 24 February 2022 and talks about the path she has travelled since then. She also explains why women must be the driving force behind a future-oriented "life agenda" in Ukraine.

We are delighted to welcome three committed and experienced women to our Board.

Margo Okazawa-Rey stepped down from the International Board at the end of March. Our President Ruth-Gaby Vermot thanks her long-time ally for her significant support.

Through our Feminist Peace Initiatives we support local, innovative and feminist peacebuilding initiatives and projects of our network members. They are a tool for promoting and advancing the “Women, Peace and Security” agenda through self-identified community needs, and allow network members to try out new ideas that match their own priorities.

Three different countries and contexts, each with different peace agreements and challenges in implementation. And yet, the three women from our partner organisations in Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines found many commonalities – in the experiences and insights shared by women peacebuilders and in what it takes to sustain peace. At a public panel in Bern, the three women talked about the importance of feminist principles in peacebuilding, particularly to prevent backsliding into armed violence, of safe spaces and self-care for activists and of not losing sight of the goal – sustainable peace.

Our long-standing partnerships in Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines, where formal peace agreements have been signed, support women in the implementation of peace agreements and in their efforts to bring about structural change. In three videos with representatives of our partner organisations in these countries, they share their most important insights from their collaboration with us. 

The book “Voices along the way” records the stories of Ukrainian women from the first year of the Russian war of aggression. The 24 stories recount uncertainty and flight, upheaval, fear and hope. The book also poses the question: “When loud voices urge us to end the war, do they actually mean peace?” The 24 stories in the book thus become an important contemporary document.

As a peace organisation based in Switzerland, we have been exploring the question: What does a decolonial approach to peacebuilding based on feminist values look like in practice? Our global collaboration with partners has repeatedly shown us that the challenges to women's peace and security can only be overcome through transnational strategies. These are geopolitically relevant, emerge from local initiatives and are led by local women peace activists on the ground. The first step in implementing our localisation efforts was the opening of an office in Colombia on 1 May 2025.

On 31 October 2000, the UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) was adopted unanimously by all 15 members of the Council. At the core of the landmark resolution that launched the Women, Peace and Security agenda lies the fundamental principle that “peace is not possible without the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership of women and girls in all their diversity”. Twenty-five years later, the WPS agenda hangs by a thread.

Fostering connections and exchange among women and feminist peacebuilders from countries affected by violent conflict is a central aim across all our programmes. To advance this goal, we invited two Sudanese and two Colombian peace activists to Switzerland. Over four days they shared experiences, strategies and approaches to feminist peacebuilding. They also met with decision-makers to highlight the challenges faced by women peace activists, particularly young ones, in their respective countries – and to voice their expectations.

Undoubtedly the world is experiencing a phase of radical change and uncertainty. The year 2025 has shown how negatively these developments impact feminist peacebuilding. In the annual report, you can find out how we and our partners are dealing with this.