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#RestInPowerMaría

Honouring María Pagano: A Life of Courage, Peace, and Unwavering Solidarity 

María Pagano dedicated her life to building peace, defending human rights, and advancing feminist activism in Argentina and beyond. As WILPF Argentina’s President, journalist, trade unionist, and survivor of dictatorship and exile, she embodied courage, solidarity, and hope. We honour her extraordinary legacy and celebrate a life that continues to inspire our movement. 

Maria Pagano speaks into a microphone in front of a banner that reads Federación Gráfica Bonaerense. Another banner features images of two women and a feminist symbol. A third banner is partially visible below.
Image credit: WILPF Costa Rica / Adilia Caravaca.
  • 3 min
WILPF International Secretariat
30 June 2026

With profound sadness, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) mourns the passing of our dear friend and comrade, María Pagano, President of the Argentinian WILPF Section, known by many of us, as “Pocha”. While we grieve her departure, we also celebrate a remarkable life devoted to peace, justice, and the unwavering defence of human dignity. 

María’s life was one of extraordinary courage and resilience. She lived through one of Argentina’s darkest periods, surviving a brutal military dictatorship that forced her into exile. Rather than allowing repression to silence her, she transformed her experiences into lifelong activism, dedicating herself to building a more peaceful and just world. 

A committed journalist, trade unionist, feminist, and peace activist, María believed deeply in the power of collective action. Her work with trade union networks in Buenos Aires and her tireless advocacy for social justice reflected her conviction that lasting peace can only be achieved through equality, democracy, and respect for human rights. 

Among the many reflections she shared throughout her life were lessons drawn from the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, whose courage profoundly shaped generations of activists. Echoing the words of Hebe de Bonafini, María often reminded us that: 

“As Hebe taught us, we transform our grief into the strength to continue the struggle.” 

Those words were not merely something she quoted, they were the way she lived. She embodied the transformation of personal and collective pain into hope, solidarity, and determined action for justice. 

For decades, María stood alongside movements defending democracy, workers’ rights, women’s rights, and peace. Her commitment has been recognised throughout Argentina, where her long history of activism leaves an enduring legacy that will continue inspiring future generations. 

As we face increasingly difficult political times across the world, María’s example reminds us that peace is not passive. It is built every day through courage, solidarity, resistance to injustice, and care for one another. Her life stands as a testament to feminist peacebuilding rooted in hope and collective action. The members of the Argentinian WILPF Section, together with our global movement, will continue building the peaceful and just world for which she dedicated her life. 

WILPF members around the world, together with the WILPF International Secretariat, join the Costa Rica WILPF/LIMPAL Section in extending our deepest condolences to María’s children, her family, her friends, and our sisters in the WILPF Argentina Section. We share in your grief while celebrating the extraordinary woman whose warmth, wisdom, humour, and steadfast commitment touched so many lives. 

We honour María Pagano with deep gratitude. May her memory continue to guide us, strengthen our resolve, and remind us that even in times of profound sorrow, we can transform grief into the courage to keep building peace. 

Rest in power, dear María. Your legacy lives on. 

Acknowledgement: This article draws on the tribute prepared by Adilia Caravaca Z. of WILPF Costa Rica, whose heartfelt remembrance of María Pagano inspired this piece.

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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.

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.