YouSaid · the spoken record

Gbowee

lines on the record
13
first
2015-01-19
most recent
2023-03-07
sittings or episodes
2
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “As we approach the twenty-fifth anniversary of the women and peace and security agenda, it is my hope that more will be done and that actionable agendas will be undertaken to move us towards a more peaceful and just world.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  2. “Every stakeholder globally should see women and peace and security as a holistic part of the global peace and security agenda in all its shapes and forms. Our search for peace in our world will continue to be in vain if we do not bring women to the table. I firmly believe that trying to work for global peace and security without women’s participation is like trying to see the whole picture with one eye covered. As Michelle Bachelet has said, “We simply can no longer afford to deny the full potential of one half of the population. The world needs to tap into the talent and wisdom of women. Whether the issue is food security, [climate change], economic recovery, health or peace and security, the participation of women is needed now more than ever”.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  3. “Secondly, as we have said over the years, we should bring women to the peace table both as negotiators and mediators. It is amazing to see how it is only the men with guns who are consistently invited to the table to find solutions, while women, who bear the greater brunt, are often invited merely as observers. The impact of conflict on the lives on women qualifies us for more than observer status at peace talks. Thirdly, we must move beyond political rhetoric. It is not okay to have national action plans but not the budgets to match them. Without funding and political will, we cannot move the peace and security agenda forward. Without funding and political will, resolution 1325 (2000) will remain a toothless bulldog.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  4. “The greatest threats to women and peace and security in nations across the world are no longer the barrel of a gun. Economic hardship, health and food insecurity and climate crisis are all part of it. When social budgets for our nations surpass our military budgets, we will begin to see more peaceful communities. The women and peace and security agenda is not a dormant agenda. It is an actionable agenda. It is not an agenda for meetings and conversation. If we collectively put some measures in place, we can definitely attain global peace. Here are a few ways we must amplify the women and peace and security agenda. First, engage local women as peace activists at the very beginning of peace missions. Partner with them and seek their counsel, as they are the custodians of their communities, hence the keepers of vital information.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  5. “Secondly, I learned that the national action plans on the resolution are now a tool for politicians and political actors to window dress women and peace and security issues, as a cover-up for their failure to incorporate women’s rights issues into their national action plans or national agendas. That is done to impress donors and development partners. Thirdly, I learned that local activists working on women and peace and security issues continue to do their work, proving time and again that despite the lack of funds, it is not a day job, but an insurance policy for their children and their communities. There is a need for us to redefine peace as we look towards the twenty-fifth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000). Peace, in my opinion, is not just the absence of war, but the presence of conditions that dignify all.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  6. “The common slogan we at the grass-roots level heard was “Men make wars; they should make peace.” It has been proven time and again that men do make war, but are unable to make peace themselves. Sadly, the conversation is the same in 2023. The question we must then ask ourselves as stakeholders is: how do we discuss the issue of peace and security and leave out 50 per cent of the population? How do we change the dynamic of a particular situation without engaging and utilizing all of the resources at our disposal? Twenty-three years after the resolution on women and peace and security, what have I learned? First, I learned that resolution 1325 (2000) is still seen by many actors as a tool for nations in a state of war, where investment in its implementation is either stalled or slowed.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  7. “Ms. Gbowee: I would like to take this moment to express solidarity with the women across the world who are suffering injustices and abuse, specifically in places where their right to life, education and bodily autonomy is a daily struggle. I would also like to recognize the efforts of women at the community level who continue to keep hope alive through their advocacy. Almost 23 years ago, in this very Chamber, a resolution was adopted (resolution 1325 (2000)). Everyone believed it was the key to unlocking the full potential of women in the global quest for peace and security. At the time, the conversation around wars and peace processes was primarily limited to men with political power and men with guns.”

    2023-03-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9276 (2023) · source

  8. “The things we did before have changed. In order for us to achieve international peace and development, we need to change the systems and structures that make it impossible for others to try where others are succeeding. Our world has changed in many ways than we ever imagined. It is time that we change some of the systems and structures that make it impossible for us achieve international peace and security. My fellow Nobel Laureate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., summed up very well the need for united and collective action and inclusiveness in this quotation, with which I will leave the Council today: "We all may have come in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now."”

    2015-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7361 (2015) · source

  9. “I could sit here and spend hours making cases for women's inclusion in peacebuilding. Every time there is lobbying and petitions, at the end of the day we are left out of processes, and sometimes only added as afterthoughts. For international peace and security and inclusive development to be achieved - and, as I said, I may never come back to the Security Council again, so let me have my say - I would ask this body to undertake some deep self-reflection. Seventy years ago, the rationale to name five permanent members made sense, as most of the countries in this Chamber were either colonized by the five permanent members or did not have independence. Today, as we talk about inclusive development, it is my hope that we can expand the number of chairs to seven, adding two more to that number. The dynamics of our world are different.”

    2015-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7361 (2015) · source

  10. “But today ifyou even say Boko Haram in Russia, someone would recognize what it is. The simple and significant things that made us feel as if we lived in a peaceful and secure world have been taken away from us. International peace, security and inclusive development are therefore things we must all work for. The second lesson I bring to this body that I learned from the group of women has to do with the spirit of unity with which they carried out their mandate. They decided to band together and wage a common struggle. The idea of such a struggle is no stranger to this body: it is enshrined in the Charter that established it. Today we see division even when there should be a consensus. Exclusivity is the order of the day, even in the process of attaining peace and security.”

    2015-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7361 (2015) · source

  11. “Regardless of where you come from and of your nationality, race or political ideology, we all - in this Chamber and outside - live with a deep sense of fear. All of the things that made life meaningful to us are gradually being taken away by insecurity. The joy of getting on an airplane is gone. The freedom to worship when, where and how we choose is gone. Education, especially for girls, is under serious threat. Depending on the space in which you find yourself, as a woman there is nothing like bodily autonomy. The freedom of expression and the freedom of the press, as we saw in Paris, is also a thing of the past. Militarism is viewed as the primary solution to every local, national and international problem - regardless of what the problem is. Several years ago, if you had said the words "Boko Haram", people would have said, "What?".”

    2015-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7361 (2015) · source

  12. “When it became clear that, regardless of on which side of the divide they stood, selfishness and greed would constantly override the genuine need for peace, those women were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice by using non-violent tactics and dialogue to negotiate a peaceful settlement. The rest is history, and we all know how it ended. But there are few lessons that I would like to humbly share with the Council - lessons that I learned as a leader of that group. First, for the women of Liberia, achieving peace was key before maintaining it. The reason I raise this is that in our world today we find ourselves at a place where the need for international peace is greater than ever before in the history of the world.”

    2015-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7361 (2015) · source

  13. “Ms. Gbowee: I am honoured to be here today. As a peace activist and a grass-roots person, I doubt ifI will ever come back here again. So let me have my say. I would like to express gratitude to Chile for inviting me here today. Fourteen years into the Liberian civil war, a group of women, some of whom had experienced the worst impact, came together to form the famous Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. Their ultimate goal was to achieve peace in a nation that had been ravaged by war. The women were from diverse ethnic, political, economic and social classes. They also had a diverse military agenda - due to the fact that many of them came from ethnic groups that were deeply involved in the civil war.”

    2015-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7361 (2015) · source