With the adoption of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1997, Switzerland undertook to remove discrimination against women in all areas of life and to promote legal and actual gender equality. This explicitly includes the active promotion of disadvantaged groups until equality is achieved. Our demands show that there is still much need for action.

Today, on International Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament, the Alliance for Women, Peace and Security launches its report on civil society priorities for the 5th Swiss National Action Plan to implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The report contains recommendations from Swiss civil society to make Switzerland – and the world – safer and more peaceful for all people, especially women, girls and queer people.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. As a result, tens of thousands of people have been killed, twelve million have been displaced, and famine is imminent. On 24 July 2024, the United States invited the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to peace talks in Switzerland to take place on 14 August. So far, similar initiatives to bring about a ceasefire have failed. Prominent Sudanese mediator and peace activist Rabab Baldo is part of our global network Feminists Connecting for Peace. She has decades of experience working for a just peace in Sudan and explains what needs to happen for the talks in Switzerland to succeed.

The danger of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for decades. Russia announced that it would change its nuclear doctrine, i.e. lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. For three years in a row, the nuclear powers have increased investment in their nuclear arsenals. Only a comprehensive ban can bring lasting security worldwide. Nuclear weapons – like armament and militarisation in general – promote armed conflicts. In no way do they contribute to comprehensive security.We are co-sponsors of the Initiative to Ban Nuclear Weapons (“Atomwaffenverbotsinitiative”) because we consistently advocate for global nuclear disarmament and demilitarisation. Switzerland must fulfil its obligations, also within the framework of the UN resolution on “Women, Peace and Security”. We urge you to support the initiative and to contribute to a more secure world.

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.