Engage Men towards Feminist Peace

During a lively briefing on 27 January 2025 for NGOs in the Netherlands about the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), experts from diverse backgrounds presented their pitches about key topics of importance for the delegation to keep in mind while engaging in the upcoming CSW negotiations.

The sixth pitch was contributed by Ilse Wermink, Policy Advisor on Gender Peace and Security at PAX. For personal reasons she could not attend the meeting and her statement was read by Yara Bon, WO=MEN. PAX is an international organisation that has over 75 years of experience working with local organisations for global peace.

From militarisation
Military expenditure is at an all time high, while the world is seeing a devastating peak in conflict-related fatalities. Gender is central to all this. Militarisation should not be glorified or normalized.

In 1995, states committed through the Beijing Platform for Action to “reduce excessive military expenditures, control the availability of armaments and promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution”. Now more than ever this is needed!

... to feminist peace
By understanding and transforming how dominant patriarchal masculinities shape institutions, communities and intimate lives to heroize violence, military, and engagement in armed conflict. And by engaging men towards feminist peace, transforming gender norms and systems, and facilitating inclusive peace processes that see the full participation of women in all their diversity.

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ARTivism for Change: Creativity as Resistance at CSW69

Artwork "Who can I trust with my story?" from ArtVism in Uganda During the 69th CSW, the Our Voices Our Futures (OVOF) consortium organised a creative ARTivism for Change space where bold protest sign-making, intimate film screenings, and thought-provoking feminist dialogues blended together. Over two days, March 12 and 13, 2025, artists, activists, and allies transformed the space into dynamic real-life canvases of empowerment, solidarity, and cultural and political resistance. In the main space of the Blue Gallery participants engaged with various stations, including Button Making , Journaling with Art , Drawing , and Protest Sign Making . Participants moved between activities, creating powerful messages of resistance and hope. The creativity extended beyond the activities themselves. Access Denied The ACCESS DENIED campaign , initiated by WO=MEN, was set up to be a photo installation. It highlights the deep gap between the inclusive vision set forth at the 1995 Beijing ...

Women in Politics: Choosing between Ambition and Safety?

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Access Denied Campaign

Following many concerns and calls for support received from activists who were not able to come to New York, WO=MEN – jointly with members and partners - took the initiative to launch a campaign to call attention to the exclusion of defenders from meaningfully participating in the CSW: ACCESS DENIED! “Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.” - Beijing Platform for Action The ACCESS DENIED campaign seeks to address the stark contrast between Beijing’s call for participation of women back in 1995 already and the reality of exclusion faced by many activists who had wished to be here at this 30 year anniversary of Beijing. Particularly activists from the global South , black and brown women, women with disabilities, youth, trans and gender non-binary people, sex workers and undocumented migrants face exclusion. Denied access due to visa obstacle...

WO=MEN in New York

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