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Amalkher Djibrine : Building Inclusion and Feminist Peace in Africa

One of WILPF’s members is reaching new heights. We want to share the exciting journey of Amalkher Djibrine, WILPF Chad President, who got elected as the new Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) Vice President.

Image credit: WILPF
  • 4 min
WILPF International Secretariat
3 April 2019
The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) is an advisory body of the African Union established to create a close connection between governments and all components of the African society. It consists of civil society organisations coming from diverse sectors both from Africa and the African dispora. It was created to provide expertise with an opinion on different themes like peace, security, political affairs and gender.

One of WILPF’s members is reaching new heights. We want to share the exciting journey of Amalkher Djibrine, WILPF Chad President, who got elected as the new Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) Vice President.

As WILPF’s member, Amalkher has helped women in her community to reach their full potential. In November 2018, she started a new position as the Vice President of ECOSOCC. This is an amazing opportunity to reach even more women and men with her message of inclusion and feminist peace in Africa and beyond.

Read the interview and be inspired by her story.

What were the challenges you faced when applying for this position at the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council?

The biggest challenge I faced when I applied for this position was my young age and the low representation of women at the ECOSOCC. For the last few years, women, unfortunately, did not exceed 30% representation in the Council. Luckily, I wasn’t alone when applying for the position. A lot of time, preparations and strategies were needed to conduct a successful campaign. Together with colleagues and members organisations we made it happen.

What are your objectives and priorities for this position, what is your main goal as Vice President of the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council?

My role is to work for the implementation of African Union programmes and politics in the Central Africa region. My priority will be the establishment of National Chapters all over Africa. If we settle these, we can easily work with national civil society and professional organisations to implement African Union programmes. The Council was created in order to make African civil society organisations and professional Organisations’ voices heard on the highest decision making organ. My main goal is to do whatever it takes to make this happen. I will take this opportunity and involve ourselves in shaping Africa’s future.

Can you tell us a bit more about your first week at the job?

The first week we celebrated together with a lot of African youth and Central Africa’s Civil Society who supported my campaign. After these amazing days of celebrations, we organised a big meeting with non-states actors to present and explain to them the Council, its objectives, and goals.

Has working with WILPF given you the necessary background or expertise to get the position at African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council?

The work I have been doing for WILPF is very noble work, being part of the WILPF family is a very special feeling and it gives me a lot of experience, confidence and a hard-working mentality. I believe that WILPF’s vision and mission lead to lasting peace and sustainable development in many different parts of the world.
For me to be able to be a part of ECOSOCC is mainly due to the experience gained from working with many different civil society organisations. These include the International Organisation for Volunteers Effort, Collectif des Association pour la Citoyenneté et la Sauvegarde des Acquis Démocratique au Tchad, Internet Governance Forum, WILPF and NIRVANA. For me, being part of these organisations has been a beautiful and unique experience which gave me more experience than I ever imagined. Now it is time for me as Vice President of ECOSOCC to give back and to push our advocacy and hard work to higher levels.

What do you envision for the future of women’s participation and the feminist movement in Africa?

Feminist movements are created to defend women’s right all over the world. Most of the time, women from rural or urban areas organise themselves to make their voices heard and considered for decisions and resolutions. This, however, does not happen without difficulties, boundaries and obstacles. One of the major obstacles is the absence of women at the highest decision making tables. From my point of view, if more women are included at those tables, we will be able to more effectively defend women’s rights on a daily basis.

What do you dream about as an activist and a feminist?

My dream is to live in a world lead equally by men and women. Where everyone has the same rights and equal opportunities. For this dream to come true, the world will need a lot more feminists and feminist organisations like WILPF. The word feminist has a lot of different meanings, but as far as I am concerned, being a feminist means to be a person who works hard for women’s rights. It means that you advocate for developing an inclusive environment for everyone, men and women.  As a feminist, I want to promote women’s inclusion in every decision, process and procedure regarding national and international development.

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WILPF International Secretariat

WILPF International Secretariat, with offices in Geneva and New York, liaises with the International Board and the National Sections and Groups for the implementation of WILPF International Programme, resolutions and policies as adopted by the International Congress. Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the Secretariat also provides support in areas of advocacy, communications, and financial operations.

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Matt Mahmoudi

Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

A woman in a blue, black, and white dress smiles radiantly in front of a leafy green background.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.