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HRC59

“No Women, No Peace”: Sounding the Alarm at the HRC59 Panel on International Day of Women in Diplomacy

At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a powerful panel commemorating the International Day of Women in Diplomacy raised a critical question: Why are women still denied meaningful leadership in peace processes? 

A woman wearing a white headscarf and blue top sits at a desk with a microphone in front of her. A nameplate reading N. YARI is on the desk. She appears to be at a formal meeting or conference.
Image credit: Screenshot - UN WebTV
  • 5 min
WILPF International
28 June 2025

“International community, peace-builders, human-rights activists—can you see me? Can you hear me? I exist.” — Anonymous Afghan woman, quoted by AFWCU founding member Negina Yari at the HRC59’s Annual Discussion on the Human Rights of Women 

These powerful words echoed through Geneva’s Palais des Nations on 24 June 2025, as the UN Human Rights Council—meeting in its 59th session (HRC59)—marked the International Day of Women in Diplomacy with a panel on overcoming barriers to women’s leadership in peace processes. The conversation tackled one persistent question: Why are women still locked out of decisions that shape peace? 

The panel featured a rich line-up of civil-society experts. Among them Dr Amrita Kapur, Negina Yari, and Genith Quitiaquez who joined via video message. Their interventions captured the urgency of the moment:

Dr. Amrita Kapur, WILPF’s Secretary-General, mapped the structural barriers women face—patriarchy, militarism and entrenched political impunity—that continue to undermine their meaningful participation and leadership in peace processes. She emphasised that the root causes of conflict and violence remain unaddressed, advocating for women’s empowerment as not merely a right but an essential strategy for conflict prevention:

“These structural barriers seem more daunting than ever. While everything has changed, nothing has changed.” 

Genith Quitiaquez, peacebuilder and spokesperson for the National Coordination of Indigenous Women of Colombia (CONAMIC), emphasised that climate justice is inseparable from justice for women. She highlighted how extractivism, climate change and the militarisation of territories disproportionately affect women in all their diversity—displacing them from their lands, their knowledge, their bodies and their ways of life:

“Our spirituality teaches us that peace is not imposed; it is woven. And in that weaving, women are threads that heal. We don’t want to just be decorative participants. We want to be active participants with real decision-making power. Yes, we want to be at the table; but we also want to transform the very way those tables are understood.” (Original in Spanish)

Negina Yari, Afghan human rights activist, Executive Director of Window for Hope and Founding member of the Afghan Women Coordination Umbrella (AFWCU), warned that Afghan women are not just excluded but systematically erased from every forum deciding their country’s future:

“This is not only a national crisis—this is a global failure. The normalisation of ‘no women at the table’ is not only immoral, it is dangerous.” 

Their shared message was clear: sustainable peace, credible diplomacy and an effective human –rights agenda are impossible without tackling the structural root causes of conflict—and without fully institutionalising women’s leadership in every peace process. 

Listen to Their Full Speeches

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  • Dr. Amrita Kapur, WILPF Secretary General 
Opening remarks
Closing remarks
  • Negina Yari, Executive Director of Window for Hope and Founding member of the Afghan Women Coordination Umbrella  
Opening remarks
Closing remarks
  • Genith Quitiaquez, peacebuilder and spokesperson for the National Coordination of Indigenous Women of Colombia (CONAMIC) 
Video intervention
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WILPF International

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.