It was a unique exchange that we were able to organise with our partners in the Philippines in December: at various events, two representatives of the Gender Working Group of the Colombian Truth Commission exchanged their experiences with peace activists from the Philippines. Many moments of recognition and understanding emerged at during these exchanges. Our programme managers Andrea Filippi and Karin Widmer were there.

With our country programmes, we work on several topics relevant to peace policy topics in conflict-affected regions – flexibly and specific to the context. We expanded the country programmes in 2021 with the aim of a more long-term collaboration with our partners on larger projects that address the issue of security from a feminist perspective.

War has been raging in eastern Ukraine since 2014; in 2022, Russia expanded its war of aggression to other parts of the country. As early as summer 2021, we launched a pilot programme with women in conflict-affected communities in eastern Ukraine, who have been affected by rampant poverty, social insecurity and gender-based violence for years. Our Ukraine programme gave them the space they needed to work together on strategies for safety in their daily lives and equal participation in peacebuilding. We continue building peace with them even during the war.

Our advocacy aims to create political impact and achieve a feminist vision of peace. The focus is on the implementation of key human rights instruments that form the basis for a peaceful and gender-just world.

After the news broke of Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, reports began to circulate about sexualised violence perpetrated primarily against Israeli women. As time went by, more harrowing reports of acts of brutality became public. We condemn these acts of sexualised violence in the strongest possible terms and are shocked by the manifest misogyny and cruelty the women were subjected to. We distance ourselves from all those who relativise these and other acts of sexualised violence and stand in solidarity with the victims and their fight for recognition and accountability. With this collection of contributions, we strengthen the voices of those who have thought deeply about the issue of sexualised violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict.