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Advancing Peace through Feminist Political Economy

We believe that the foundation for permanent and just peace is multifaceted. It is not just the absence of war and violence. Peace also comes from living and being part of thriving societies. Societies that are sustainable, just, equal and inclusive.

The grim reality is that we live in a world dominated by capitalism — a system that is profoundly unjust and builds on exploitation, destruction and oppression of people, communities and entire countries. We are not supposed to question how wealth is created and distributed, or who and what it harms. Capitalism affects every aspect of our lives, be it in the public or private sphere.

Through the lens of feminist political economy, WILPF — together with many organisations and activists around the world — advocates for political and economic policies that will put an end to destruction, exploitation, gender, racial and other inequalities and injustices, and that are centred around ecological sustainability and solidarity within and between countries.

Why Feminist Political Economy?

The current mainstream political economy is based on capitalism and neoliberalism, fuelling inequality, violence, injustices and environmental destruction. Using the lens of feminist political economy, WILPF seeks to challenge and deconstruct the existing system by focusing on how gender determines our social, political and economic relationships and structures.

Our vision is a world free of capitalism and its destructive tools of war and oppression, where just and equal societies are built on democratic, inclusive and transparent policies that promote equality, solidarity, social cohesion and justice.

Using feminist political economy as part of our analysis helps us advance our thinking on what comprehensive and transformative social and gender justice approaches to peace can look like. It also helps us show how current approaches to conflict and post-conflict reconstruction and recovery are blind to equality and social justice.

Watch our feminist political economy explainer video to learn more!

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What We Do

Analysis

We use feminist political economy as an analytical lens to understand and make known the systems of oppression in our societies that lead to precarity, inequality, exploitation, conflicts and destruction. We also use feminist political economy analysis to dismantle these systems and reimagine alternatives that build sustainable, feminist, demilitarised societies based on equality, justice, solidarity and care.

WILPF submission cover page titled Written Input to the Independent Expert on the Effects of Foreign Debt for the Report on Financing Peace, featuring geometric red shapes and a dove logo in the top right corner, underscoring themes of Financing Peace.

Written Input to the Independent Expert on the Effects of Foreign Debt for the Report on “Financing Peace”

WILPF believes peace is a human right and public good that must be central to all policies. We have long argued that peace, equality, justice, and environmental sustainability are inseparable and mutually reinforcing. In a context of rising military spending, genocide in Palestine, ongoing wars, militarisation, funding cuts, and shrinking space for peace activism, financing peace is a crucial issue. WILPF therefore welcomes the upcoming “Financing Peace” report by the Independent Expert at the 80th UN General Assembly in October 2025.

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Text on a yellow grid background reads, The economic framework of recovery and reconstruction must intersect with questions of justice, equality and solidarity. A hand holding a megaphone is in the bottom right corner.

Making Profit from Destruction and Reconstruction

This article was written by WILPF’s lead on feminist political economy for the Swedish magazine Fronesis, in its thematic number 84-85 The conditions for peace. We are republishing it here in its English version. 

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The Peace That Is Not Essays

Read our feminist critique of where 25 years of experimenting with Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina has left us.

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A street sign with the word CHANGE and smaller text FOR THE BETTER is illuminated against a dusky sky, subtly echoing themes of feminist political economy. Power lines and trees are silhouetted in the background, framing a scene of transformative potential.

Commodifying War: The Political Economy of Disaster Capitalism in Ukraine and Beyond

As the war is ongoing in Ukraine decisions are already being made on the reconstruction and recovery process. The approach used is firmly rooted in the neoliberal assumption that the foundation for peace and development, both within and between states, is market democracy and that the solution lies in “leveraging private capital”. But this is not the only way forward.
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A street sign with the word CHANGE and smaller text FOR THE BETTER is illuminated against a dusky sky, subtly echoing themes of feminist political economy. Power lines and trees are silhouetted in the background, framing a scene of transformative potential.

Комерціалізація війни – політична економія капіталізму катастроф в Україні та за її межами

Спочатку аналіз був написаний англійською мовою. Таким чином, у зв’язку із зовнішніми перекладацькими послугами можуть виникнути розбіжності між англійською та українською версіями. Будь ласка, зверніться до англійської версії для отримання оригінального тексту.

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Towards a Feminist Political Economy in the MENA Region

In light of the longstanding and most recent regional crises, many feminist movements and organisations in the MENA region have been seeking to provide a gendered understanding of the multi-layered catastrophes we are living. And one important area attracting more attention nowadays is the ‘Feminist Political Economy Approach’.
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COVID-19: Making our Recovery Green and Feminist

The consequences of COVID-19 and the lockdown of countries across the world are yet to be fully understood, but one thing that was immediately noticeable, and welcomed, was that nature benefited from us slowing down.

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COVID-19: The Pandemic Reveals a Long-Standing Financial Crisis

COVID-19 revealed  structural injustices of the financial sector that have deepened since 2008 and have lasting consequences. These injustices are deeply gendered in nature as the financial markets value riskier, more “masculine”, and often more harmful goods, services and characteristics as higher than all the rest.

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COVID-19: What has COVID-19 Taught Us about Neoliberalism?

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the toxic effects of a system that has for far too long dominated every aspect of our societies. Neoliberalism, as an economic ideology of capitalism, has depleted our public services, turned our education and healthcare into profit-driven businesses, hoarded profits at the expense of undervalued and underpaid workers, favoured profitability of a militarised world over human security and well-being, and aggravated inequalities between people and countries.

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Advocacy

By using feminist political economy, WILPF seeks to understand the political economy of war and post-conflict recovery and deconstruct seemingly fixed and unchangeable economic, social and political parameters of reconstruction and recovery processes. We use our analysis to push back against financialisation of recovery processes and to advocate for public investments that prioritise gender-just recovery and inclusive and transparent decision-making processes.

Reasoning with the Patriarchy: the Political, Economic, and Social Fallout From Talking with the Taliban

Women and girls in Afghanistan are being deprived of their fundamental human rights and their political, economic and social agency is systematically being taken away. At the same time, no concrete actions are taken by the international community to truly put pressure on the Taliban to revert what ultimately is an erasure of Afghan women and girls from public spaces. This analysis looks at the structures of oppression at play, examines the political economy behind “reasoning” with the Taliban, and highlights what the international community needs to do to support Afghan women in reclaiming their rights.

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Feminist principles for a post COVID-19 settlement

What shall an international post-COVID-19 settlement look like? In this publication, six feminist principles for a post-COVID-19 recovery is being presented. Originally presented to the UN General Assembly, they are now compiled in this publication with the hope to bring new ideas, perspectives, and solutions forward.

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Submission on Business and Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Contexts

This report was submitted by WILPF International to the UN Working Group (UNWG) on Business and Human Rights for its project aimed to clarify the practical steps that States and business enterprises should take to implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts. The submission highlights the importance to address the arms industry’s responsibility, illustrates why companies’ enhanced human rights due diligence should be gender and conflict-sensitive, and challenges neoliberal assumptions on what makes sustainable peace.

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Learning and Knowledge Sharing

We believe that feminist political economy is needed to help us imagine a world free from injustice, violence and systems of oppression that profit from suffering. That is why we work on learning how to use feminist political economy throughout all our programmes and engage in dialogues with our Sections, partners and other networks so that we can collectively formulate transformative, feminist political economy approaches on a national, regional and global level.

Cover of A WILPF Guide to Feminist Political Economy, Edition 3 | 2025. Features a silhouette of a hawk filled with various images like construction, flowers, and people. WILPF logo is at the bottom. Background is coral.

A WILPF Guide to Feminist Political Economy (Edition 3)

The intention is for this Guide to be used by WILPF members and Sections, but also other practitioners and those that are curious about feminist political economy. It can be used to support the discussions and work on broad set of peace related issues: from prevention, demilitarisation, women, peace and security, human rights, environment to envisioning alternative economic systems in support of sustainable peace.

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Collaborations

Over the years we have brought our feminist political economy analysis and thinking around post-conflict reconstruction and recovery to various spaces — from feminist solidarity dialogues, academic conversations and writings and the work of our Sections and partners, to networks and other collective efforts to push back against systems of oppression.

Caring to Survive, Surviving to Care: Gendered survival practices, social reproduction and circuits of violence in Ukraine

WILPF has teamed up with Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, Karazin National Kharkiv University and Center for Social and Labour Research from Ukraine to examine the gendered practices of survival in the context of Ukraine. The project will document how diverse Ukrainians experience and respond to different but interlinked forms of violence – from the violence of war and Russian invasion, to the economic violence unleashed by structural and austerity reforms. Using a feminist political economy lens, the project will examine how the coping strategies are shaped by gender and other intersectional identities, and influenced by national and international policies.

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Collaboration with Regions Refocus and NAWI- Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective

In collaboration with Regions Refocus and NAWI- Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective, WILPF worked on an explainer covering the issue of post-conflict recovery and trade. The explainer is produced by Regions Refocus for the Gender and Trade Coalition. It puts forward strategic policy proposals to harness trade as a tool that complements rather than counteracts post-conflict recovery of both economies and people. It draws from answers to the following questions:

  • Does Trade Enhance Post-Conflict Recovery?
  • How do International Financial Institutions Impede Post-Conflict Government Spending?
  • How do Trade and Investment Agreements Exploit Post-Conflict Economic Opportunities?
  • What is the Role of the Extractive Sector in Post-Conflict Trade and Investment?
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Endausterity Collective

Together with other women’s rights and peace organisations, environmental groups, economic justice communities, trade unions, human rights defender=s, activists, researchers, humanitarian and health organisations and ordinary people, WILPF joined the EndAusterity Campaign to push back against neoliberal policies that exacerbate the climate crisis, growing inequality and debt burdens, conflict and food insecurity. Check out the EndAusterity Campaign website for more information and resources.

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Contact Us

Nela Porobić Isaković

Feminist Political Economy Focal Point
nela.porobic (a) wilpf.org

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.