Home Blog Page 20

Women, Peace, and Security Networks Sustaining Peace Efforts in Myanmar and Thailand

By
Duanghathai Buranajaroenkij, Sanda Thant and Kyoko Kusakabe
-
0
Women in Myanmar walking with baskets, photo by Alexey Komissarov via Pexels, photo cropped.

Conflict Resurgence in Thailand and Myanmar

Thailand and Myanmar have both seen renewed turbulence in recent years. In Myanmar, the February 2021 military coup reignited intense fighting across ethnic states, displacing millions and eroding trust in peace mechanisms established during the country’s brief democratic transition. The National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) framework lost credibility after the 2021 coup, as many ethnic armed organizations ceased engagement with the State Administration Council (SAC). The emergence of the National Unity Government (NUG) and the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) provided alternative spaces for dialogue, yet the formal peace process was effectively suspended. 

Meanwhile, Thailand’s southern border provinces continue to experience sporadic violence. Although a formal peace dialogue between the Thai government and representatives of the region’s main Muslim separatist group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) was initiated in 2013 and resumed in 2015, progress has remained fragile and uneven. Following the 2019 general election, the country experienced a shift in political leadership, the centralization of control under the military, and limited engagement with civil society. Since the 2023 general election, momentum has further declined, with limited state-led initiatives and a lack of sustained engagement. In both settings, the resurgence of conflict underscores a longstanding problem: the consistent marginalization of women from official peace talks, despite their critical roles in mitigating violence and sustaining social cohesion.

Across both nations, women’s participation in formal peace processes remains limited. In Thailand, women have been absent from the delegations representing both the government and insurgent parties. Myanmar, too, has seen minimal inclusion. Despite these limitations, women in both countries have consistently organized and advocated for greater inclusion. In 2015, Thai women, through the Peace Agenda of Women (PAOW), pushed for the adoption of public safety spaces in conflict-affected areas. At the same time, Myanmar’s Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process (AGIPP) championed a 30% gender quota across all levels of the peace process. While neither campaign succeeded in radically reshaping the gender agenda or composition of formal delegations, both contributed to increasing women’s visibility in public policy dialogues.

Sustaining the WPS Agenda Amid Shrinking Space

Despite political deadlock and rising risks, women’s networks in Myanmar and Thailand continue to advance the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. In Myanmar, women and gender activists have come together to develop the Gender Equality Position Paper, which was endorsed by NUCC in 2023. They further formulated a WPS Strategic Framework (2024-2027) in 2024. Pro-federal democracy entities, including political actors such as the Ministry of Women Youth and Children Affairs (MOWYCA) and Myanmar Women Parliamentarian Network (MWPN), actively translate their shared vision into concrete actions, both individually and collectively. This is important to note, especially with the announcement of the sham election by a junta which does not have such inclusivity as part of its mandate. Women’s groups now operate across borders and in exile, focusing on immediate threats such as conflict-related sexual violence, food insecurity, family separation, and the collapse of health and education systems. Their advocacy spans humanitarian response and political organizing, including engagement with the NUG, NUCC, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

On the other hand, in Thailand, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has been actively promoted and advanced by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, moving beyond the previous “Measures and Guidelines on the Implementation of the WPS Agenda (2017–2021),” through the development of a National Action Plan (NAP) on WPS in 2024, which is currently awaiting formal government endorsement. While the official NAP is still pending, civil society organizations nationwide mobilized to form a WPS network to sustain momentum and ensure continued progress on the WPS agenda.

Coincidentally, in July 2025, the WPS networks of both countries organized their meeting and discussed their advancement and concerns. Thailand’s WPS movement reflects an expanding and increasingly coordinated network of grassroots actors advancing gender-responsive peacebuilding. These networks, comprising indigenous women, women human rights defenders, and local peacebuilders from the South, Northeast, North, and other historically marginalized regions, are translating the WPS agenda into locally grounded action. Some groups focus on preventing violence by addressing youth marginalization and drug-related harms through community-based initiatives. Others work to strengthen women’s participation by building political capacity and leadership among women and youth. Protection efforts are evident in campaigns against domestic violence, while economic security, particularly in border areas, is promoted as a foundation for sustainable peace. Collectively, these efforts demonstrate how Thailand’s grassroots actors are localizing the WPS agenda beyond formal peace tables.

Since the coup, Myanmar’s women activists have recalibrated their strategies. Many have relocated to border areas or third countries, where they mobilize in exile. Despite facing displacement, security threats, and shrinking resources, these women have used regional and international mechanisms to amplify their voices. Ethnic-based women’s and LGBT organizations across the states have established cross-border WPS partnerships and continued to push for their inclusion in political reform and reconstruction processes. Recommendations from recent gatherings emphasize the importance of interethnic collaboration, protection mechanisms for women human rights defenders, and flexible funding that allows women to lead rather than implement externally defined agendas. 

These voices insist that peace cannot be built without women’s leadership at every level in shaping Myanmar’s post-coup political future. It is again important to note that women’s groups across geographical regions have already met five times to discuss where they can work together and how to strategize to ensure the meaningful implementation of the WPS agenda. Those involved in this dialogue are from the four major networks in Myanmar, which cover almost all women’s, LGBT, and persons with disabilities organizations.  

Divergent Pathways, Shared Struggles

Although Myanmar and Thailand differ significantly in their political and conflict landscapes, the challenges facing women’s peace networks show striking commonalities. Both contexts reveal persistent patriarchal barriers, symbolic inclusion, and the fragility of peace infrastructures. However, the strategies employed by women diverge. Thai women work within existing state and civil society spaces to broaden the definition of security, while Myanmar’s women increasingly operate outside state structures, navigating risk to assert their roles in political resistance and humanitarian protection.

The WPS agenda, when interpreted through feminist and grassroots lenses, offers not only a critique of militarized peace, but a blueprint for inclusive and sustainable peace. Women in both countries demonstrate that peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, dignity, and voice. Their work underscores that even in contexts of political repression and stalled formal processes, feminist peacebuilding persists in networks, in communities, and in acts of everyday resistance.

Keywords: Myanmar, Thailand, Women Peace and Security, peace, conflict, conflict resolution, women in peace, women, Southeast Asia

This Week in Peace #90: July 18

By
Tara Abhasakun
-
0
BBC footage of Syria during an Israeli strike, screen shot.

This week, Druze leaders and Syrian government reach a ceasefire. Humanitarians speak out about impact of USAID cuts on Sudan. At least 20 killed at aid site stampede in Gaza.

Druze Leaders and Syrian Government Reach a Ceasefire

Druze leaders and the Syrian government reached a ceasefire on July 16 after days of fighting between Druze and Sunni Bedouin citizens killed at least 300 people in Sweida province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The violence began after members of a bedouin tribe set up a checkpoint, then attacked and robbed a Druze man in the area. There was then a series of clashes and kidnappings. 

The ceasefire on July 16 came after a previous ceasefire announced just one day earlier had quickly fallen apart. Government forces began to leave Sweida despite not knowing if the new ceasefire would hold. Israel became involved in the conflict when it launched airstrikes in Damascus, saying that it aimed to defend the Druze and push Islamic militants away from its border. 

This recent violence comes in the context of renewed attacks on Syria’s religious minorities, most recently Christians in Demascus. After the fall of Assad, a new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, came to power in Syria, promising to enforce minority rights and build an inclusive country. However, violent attacks have left doubts in the minds of many religious minorities, with some minorities even seeking to leave the country.

Humanitarians Speak Out About Impact of USAID Cuts on Sudan

Amidst rising malnutrition and disease in Sudan, humanitarians are speaking about the impact of cuts to USAID on the country. In a detailed report, ABC News spoke with several aid workers about the bleak outlook for Sudan after the cuts.

UN data says that USAID provided 44% of the world’s humanitarian funding in 2024 for Sudan. However, Dan Teng’o, a spokesperson for the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that “food aid, nutrition support and essential health services” have been cut as the U.N.’s annual fund for Sudan is funded at only 23 percent. Teng’o said, “Without urgent additional support, the risk of famine and further deterioration remains high.” 

Andrea Tracy, a former USAID Sudan official, told ABC News that she had received an email saying that another 40 programs would be cut. “So we haven’t found the floor yet,” she noted.

This development comes as the UN is raising its voice about malnutrition and disease currently plaguing El Fasher, the capital city of Sudan’s North Darfur province. On July 7, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that the city was suffering “extreme shortages” of food and water. Almost 40 percent of the city’s children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 11 per cent with severe acute malnutrition. country has reported more than 32,000 suspected cholera cases so far this year. 

At Least 20 Killed at Aid Site Stampede in Gaza

At least 20 people were killed during a stampede at an aid distribution site run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The GHF and Gaza health ministry gave conflicting accounts of the events that led to the deaths. 

The GHF said the victims died in a “chaotic and dangerous surge,” saying there was  “credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd — armed and affiliated with Hamas — deliberately fomented the unrest,” as quoted in The New York Times. The GHF said that 19 people had been trampled, and one person was stabbed.

However, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that tear gas had been fired into the crowd, causing the stampede. The ministry said that 21 people were killed, 15 of whom suffocated from the tear gas. The Hamas-run Government Media Office accused the GHF of trying to “cover up” a crime. The GHF spokesperson said that tear gas had not been used, although a “limited” amount of pepper spray had been used to “protect against additional loss of life.”

An eyewitness told CNN that he was “running to get aid” when “the Americans closed the gates in front of us.” Another eyewitness said that when “the Americans” saw people running towards them, they sprayed them with pepper spray. 

Since October 7, 2023, the conflict between Hamas and Israel has killed over 1,200 people in Israel, and according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, over 55,000 people in Gaza, although some researchers say that the number of Gazans killed is higher.

Keywords: Syria, Druze, Bedouin, Sudan, USAID, aid cuts, USAID cuts, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, conflict, peace, conflict resolution

DRC-Rwanda Peace Agreement Greeted with Hope and Skepticism in DRC

By
Anicet Kimonyo
-
0
Journalist Anicet Kimonyo interviews Liberatwa, a women’s and human rights activist from a rural area in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), about the peace agreement between DRC and Rwanda. Screenshot.

After the announcement of a new peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, negotiated with United States mediation, the minds of residents of Goma, the capital of DRC’s North Kivu province, and its surrounding areas are fluctuating between cautious hope and realistic skepticism. For many, the agreement signed on June 27 represents a unique opportunity, but its success will depend on its concrete implementation and the genuine will of the stakeholders involved.

“This is what everyone was waiting for,” says Justin Mwanatabu, a teacher and political analyst based in Goma. “We must first congratulate the actors, because Rwanda, often accused by Congo of being the aggressor, has finally agreed to sign an agreement. And this was facilitated by the United States, which reinforces the idea of ​​a serious commitment,” he continued.

But despite this recognition, doubts remain. For Mwanatabu, recent history weighs heavily on the population’s trust in the actors involved. “Before this one, there were several agreements. We saw meetings between Rwanda and Congo, sometimes under the auspices of the United Nations, but the war continued. Entire villages disappeared. So yes, doubts are allowed,” he said bluntly.

Peace, an Essential Condition for Reconciliation

From the civilian population’s perspective, the demand is clear: to see an end to the war. Liberata Buratwa, a rural woman from the region and a women’s and human rights activist, believes that only respect for the agreements signed by regional leaders will be essential for lasting peace. “If all the presidents of the Great Lakes region come together, if they respect the agreements they have already signed at the regional level, if they respect only the various articles contained in these agreements, I believe that we will have peace, and then a lasting peace,” she said. 

Mwanatabu believes in reconciliation to rebuild the DRC’s social fabric after years of conflict. “When people are disbanded, wandering, it leads to a lot of conflict, questioning, and on this basis, people can hate each other,” he explained, adding that only an end to the war can solve these problems.

Hubert Masomeko, a researcher at the Center for Research on Democracy and Development in Africa (CREDDA), emphasizes the need for transitional justice as a guarantee of lasting peace and long-term reconciliation in eastern DRC. “Signing an agreement is one part, but another is establishing transitional justice mechanisms for war victims. This justice can also serve as a lesson to discourage acts of war in the future,” he said.

Lasting Peace Also Requires Economic Justice

The peace agreement is supposed to be followed by an economic agreement, a step deemed crucial by the inhabitants of North Kivu, a wounded province embroiled in war for more than three decades. For Mwanatabu, this could be a decisive turning point, provided that the interests of the population are truly taken into account. “We are in a region where resource exploitation is clandestine and confused. It doesn’t create jobs, it doesn’t develop anything. Armed groups extract minerals in areas without roads, schools, or hospitals. And the country is lost,” he said.

He hopes the economic agreement will herald a new era. According to him, this will require the Congolese state and well-known and authorized services to regain control. “This exploitation must be led by the state, by known structures, with social support. If someone has a job, they won’t join an armed group. That’s how we build peace. The economy can be a powerful tool for pacification and peacebuilding,” Mwanatabu said.

A Population Thirsting for Peace

The inhabitants of Goma express a strong, lucid expectation. Mwanatabu and other social actors ask themselves many questions. “Does this population of Goma need peace? Yes. Is that all they’re waiting for? Yes. Do they swear by the end of the war? Yes. Because this war prevents them from flourishing,” he insists. “This population is hardworking, they want to be pushed to work, but the war prevents them from moving forward,” he notes.

Women have been the main people affected by armed conflicts in the region for over 30 years, Buratwa stressed. “War always starts in rural areas. You see, from Chanzu to Goma, women remain vulnerable because they don’t know how to access their fields to find food for their children, and also to cultivate their fields so that they can develop and educate their children,” Buratwa concluded, calling on the warring parties to make peace. “It was we women who brought them into the world, I’ve always said, let them stop. We’re fed up, it’s time to bring us peace. Please lay down your arms, we need peace.”

Despite the uncertainties, a glimmer of hope persists. For the residents of Goma, the agreement signed in Washington will only be credible when it positively changes their daily lives in an environment where guns will forever be silenced, with the return of security, the revival of the local economy, the reopening of schools, and the possibility, finally, of living without fleeing.

Keywords: DRC, Rwanda, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Goma, eastern Congo, conflict, conflict resolution, peace, peace agreement, Africa

Liberian Women’s Peacebuilding Work in Peace Huts

By
Erica S. Lawson, Vaiba Kebeh Flomo and Cerue Konah Garlo
-
0
Totota Peace Hut, photo via Erica S. Lawson.

Liberian women’s peacebuilding work in Peace Huts is a case study in social connectivity and gender-informed approaches to every-day peacebuilding. Most Peace Huts are managed by women who led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped end the country’s fourteen-year civil war from 1989-2003. 

The women believed that Peace Huts provided an important space to protect fragile peace gains, and have been working to do this since the end of the war. In recent months, the Women in Peace Network (WIPNET) have been vocal supporters of President Joseph Boaki’s Executive Order to establish the Office of an Economic and War Crimes Court to pursue accountability and restitution for war-time atrocities. Many women who work in Peace Huts view this initiative as central to advancing the work of peacebuilding, reconciliation, and transitional justice. Their support for this court points to the unfinished business of peacebuilding work and the need for accountability to promote social healing. 

Photo via Erica S. Lawson.

Peace Huts are a gender-focused adaptation of the Palava Hut system, a centuries-old Liberian community-based forum for addressing intra-group conflicts and domestic disputes. The country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report (2009) recommended that Palava Huts – much like Gacaca Courts in Rwanda – could play an important, complementary role in the broader transitional justice process. But Palava Huts are largely led by men, with interests that may not align with women’s needs. 

Women reclaimed this tradition by establishing Peace Huts in various communities to promote gender equality and resolve disputes through conflict resolution and mediation. Yet, they take seriously and insist on using the criminal justice system (instead of mediation) to prosecute crimes such as sexual gender-based violence.  

Peacebuilding in Liberia is a multi-sector and societal responsibility. The Peace Building Office, for example, co-ordinates peacebuilding activities for the state. However, women in Peace Huts undertake a good deal of peacebuilding labour and they require crucial and sustained support to do this work. 

What Women Do in Peace Huts

Women play multiple roles in Peace Huts all of which is connected to peacebuilding. First, they serve as first responders during crises in their communities. Our research shows that Liberian women, including those who work in Peace Huts, played a critical role in containing the Ebola epidemic in 2014, in some cases losing their own lives while caring for others. 

They later drew on the lessons from that experience to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Women in Peace Huts believe that, left unaddressed, crisis can erode fragile peace gains and create conditions for renewed conflict. This view points to how peacebuilding is intertwined with social, religious, and economic challenges. Despite these challenges, women continue their work with limited or no formal support. The women in Peace Huts strive to mediate community conflicts, but sometimes they are unable to complete the resolution process. This is largely due to limited resources, including the lack of volunteers needed to assist in addressing multiple conflicts simultaneously.

Secondly, women in Peace Huts undertake collective healing and reconciliation work to promote social harmony. For example, some of these women were instrumental in assisting young men who committed atrocities to re-integrate into their communities. This included guiding them through rituals such as shaving their overgrown hair and reclaiming their birth names, rather than the monikers they were given while perpetrating violence. This took place in the broader complex context of reintegrating “child soldiers,” in consideration of family integration and educational and employment opportunities. Women also supported the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to disarm combatants by leveraging the cultural trust accorded to mature women who are social and biological mothers.  

Third, women in Peace Huts lead community dialogues about peacebuilding that include men, youth, and elders. These dialogues are informed by collectivity and reciprocity, principles that are central to African Indigenous knowledge systems and cosmology. These principles reflect debates in International Relations (IR) about how to prioritize local solutions to everyday problems instead of leaning heavily on external processes far removed from people’s lives. Women in Peace Huts also actively transmit memories of the war to younger generations to reinforce the value of mediation and conflict resolution. Our most recent (in progress) project with these women examines intergenerational storytelling for memory preservation.   

Women’s Invisible Work in Peace Huts 

Liberian women in civil society organizations shoulder the invisible yet essential work of sustaining families and communities. They remain largely invested in peacebuilding because they have the most to lose if these efforts fail. Women also work to implement the four pillars of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which emphasizes women’s full participation in conflict and post-conflict societies. 

Our observations are less about associating women with natural inclinations toward peace and more about demonstrating how peacebuilding depends on gendered labor where protective social and economic infrastructures are weak or absent. This reality has taken on new urgency considering cuts to international aid – including USAID – exposing the fragility of societies and women’s peacebuilding initiatives that depend on such support. 

Three Recommendations for Supporting Peace Hut Work

First, while support from external sources remains important, women in Peace Huts should receive support from state, local, and continental/regional bodies (e.g. the African Union) to sustain gendered approaches to peacebuilding work. 

Second, women who work in Peace Huts must have a consistent voice at decision-making tables, including a strong say in women’s participation in political office where laws are made. 

And third, as the women at the forefront of ending the civil war and leading Peace Huts are aging, efforts to preserve their memories through storytelling must be prioritized. Our current research focuses on this by documenting stories by women survivors of war and how they want their experiences to be remembered. This is important, not just for longevity, but for knowledge transmission for preventing war, healing emotional wounds, and promoting women’s full participation in Liberian society – all of which is central to women’s peacebuilding labour in Peace Huts.

Keywords: Liberia, Liberian, women, women’s peacebuilding, peacebuilding, peace, conflict, conflict resolution, peace huts, feminism

This Week in Peace #89: July 11

By
Tara Abhasakun
-
0
El-Fasher, North Darfur Sudan. Photo via Wikipedia.

This week, Israeli PM nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize. US removes Syria’s ruling rebel group from terror list. UN reports high rates of child malnutrition and cholera amidst conflict in Sudan. 

Israeli PM Nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Netanyahu presented Trump with a nomination letter at a dinner at the White House on July 7. 

Trump told Netanyahu that, “Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.” 

Trump’s nomination for the prize comes after he managed to help Israel and Iran reach a ceasefire after 12 days of conflict which killed 935 people in Iran, and 28 in Israel, according to each country’s officials. Trump also helped the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to sign a peace agreement.

However, Trump has still not been able to broker a ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. Since October 7, 2023, the conflict between Hamas and Israel has killed over 1,200 people in Israel, and according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, over 55,000 people in Gaza. In addition to this, Trump and Netanyahu have discussed relocating Palestinians from Gaza to other countries, a plan which has been highly criticized by human rights advocates.

US Removes Syria’s Ruling Rebel Group from Terror List

The United States plans to remove Syria’s ruling rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. The group’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, helped to overthrow the Assad regime in December 2024, and became the country’s new president. 

HTS has been on the US’s list of foreign terrorist organizations for over a decade, which has made it difficult for the group’s leaders to accept financial assistance from Americans, travel to the US, or work with US banks. 

In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the removal of the group from its foreign terror list “recognizes the positive actions taken by the new Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa,” describing the move as an important step in “fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria.”

This development comes after violence against Christians has recently threatened the possibility of peace in Syria. After the fall of Assad, a new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, came to power in Syria, promising to enforce minority rights and build an inclusive country. However, violent attacks have left doubts in the minds of many religious minorities, with some minorities even seeking to leave the country.

UN Reports High Rates of Child Malnutrition and Cholera Amidst Conflict in Sudan

The UN is raising its voice about malnutrition and disease currently plaguing El Fasher, the capital city of Sudan’s North Darfur province. On July 7, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that the city was suffering “extreme shortages” of food and water. Almost 40 percent of the city’s children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 11 per cent with severe acute malnutrition.

Meanwhile, Dujarricv cautioned that the deterioration of food and water and sanitation services, in addition to low vaccination coverage, was highly increasing the risk of cholera in Sudan. The country has reported more than 32,000 suspected cholera cases so far this year. Dujarricv added that most surrounding water infrastructure had been destroyed or rendered non-functional. 

An estimated 780,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher town and the nearby Zamzam displacement camps since Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023. 

Keywords: Trump, Nobel Peace Prize, Netanyahu, Israeli, Syria, Sudan, El Fasher, peace, conflict, conflict resolution

1...192021...179Page 20 of 179