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Q&A with Rania Mohammed: Protesting Against Violence with Young WILPF

As a young female activist in Yemen, Rania experienced war atrocities and several threats in the name of a conservative society. However, those alarming situations have fuelled her passion for peacebuilding and defending the rights of the most vulnerable. In this Q&A, dive into the profound convictions of a dedicated young WILPFer, committed to catalysing positive change for her peers and illuminating the uncertain future of women and youth in Yemen.

Image credit: Young WILPF
  • 4 min
Rania Mohammed
26 February 2024

Q: How is it to be an activist in Yemen? Is it safe? 

During the nine years of war in Yemen, my country, since 2014, these difficult situations of conflict encouraged people to help each other: war has rushed our awareness and responsibilities toward our society. In other terms, the conflict situation underlined how it is vital to be an activist to decrease people’s affliction and reach our voices to the world. I had the conviction that nothing could be done armed cross. As activists, we face lots of challenges and dangers because of the insecure environment. Some questions cannot be addressed by activists, and sexual violence in our context is a shame. Therefore, lots of activists are exposed to criticism because they have broken traditions and customs when they tackle this “kind of issue”. 

Yemen faces its worst crisis yet due to the support of a historical dictatorial regime, resulting in militia control over various governorates and the imposition of their rules. Consequently, activism has been stifled, and this forced activists to adapt to the challenging circumstances. There are many detained activists, including journalists, politicians, media professionals, and civil society activists, both men and women. Others have been subjected to assassinations, such as Rasha Al-Harazi a female journalist from Yemen, who was killed in a targeted car bomb in Aden on November 9, 2021.

Q: What are the most relevant advocacy issues in Yemen at this moment? How can WILPF help young Yemeni activists?

Amidst the profound challenges spurred by the war in Yemen, including the escalating humanitarian crisis, pervasive violence, and discriminatory practices, a wave of young activists has passionately advocated for the reopening of blocked routes. This initiative aims to alleviate the hardship faced by civilians in accessing essential services such as healthcare and education within the country, thereby facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and support to those in need.

Regarding these exacerbating outbreaks of violence that affected women and girls in particular, WILPF is a key ally to partner organisations and the Yemeni women’s movement. The goal is to ensure their experiences and recommendations are reflected in the different tracks of the ongoing peace process, to reach a more localised, inclusive, and sustainable feminist peace process.

WILPF is also seeking to promote Yemeni women as agents of change and influencers within their communities, which has the side effect of reducing harmful gender norms and expectations that prevent women from achieving equality. This work is in addition to advocating for accountability towards perpetrators of women’s rights violations and abuses.

Q: What are the difficulties confronting Yemeni young activists? 

Talking about how difficult it is to be an activist, it is important to highlight how young activists have been facing the same challenges and dangers. Several projects stopped building their capacities for two reasons. First, in northern regions, conflict parties hinder youth development projects linked to peace, conflict resolution, and civil and political activities. Conversely, in southern Yemen, secessionist movements favour youth development for southerners, excluding those from the north, leading to unequal opportunities. Second, countless local originations do not have equal standards to involve a lot of young activists in their projects, so many young activists suffer to launch these chances which help them to improve and react to their roles.

Even though young activists have been working in unstable situations, it does not prevent them from achieving successful stories in their society on numerous topics like human rights, anti-violence, climate change, women’s violence, etc.

Q: What is your message for the other Young WILPFers? 

“I want to say to the Young WILPFers that they should work to help our society and people who need help, and believe that youth can change the world if starting with small changes.“

Rania Mohammed

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Rania Mohammed

Rania Mohammed is a master’s student in international relations and political science at the Institute of Arab Research and Studies in Cairo. She is representing the Sheba Youth Foundation in WILPF Yemen. She is the Strategy Co-coordinator of the Young WILPF Network.

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.

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Hanne Peterson

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

More about Hanne Peterson coming soon.

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Diana María Salcedo López

VICE-PRESIDENT

Diana María Salcedo López holds a degree in Political Science from the National University of Colombia, a Master’s degree in Women’s, Gender and Citizenship Studies from the University of Barcelona, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights, the Rule of Law and Democratisation from the University of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid. A feminist and anti-militarist, she has a solid track record spanning two decades working as a consultant for non-governmental organisations, international cooperation agencies, the United Nations and state bodies in Colombia. 

Her work has focused on safeguarding women’s rights, incorporating a gender and intersectional perspective into public policy, strengthening the social fabric amongst women who are victims of the armed conflict, and consolidating local peace-building processes. 

She currently serves as director of the Colombian section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (LIMPAL Colombia), where she leads initiatives on issues such as feminist approaches to the energy transition, the protection of women human rights defenders, the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and advocacy in international forums. She also represents the organisation on the Special Women’s Body for Monitoring the Peace Agreement and on the Intersectoral Commission on Security Guarantees for Women Human Rights Defenders and Women Leaders in Colombia. 

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Desirée Sterner

VICE-PRESIDENT

Desirée Sterner currently serves as President of the Swedish Section (IKFF), a role she has held since 2023. Her engagement with WILPF began at the grassroots level through the local branch in Lund/Malmö during her university years. Desirée brings a deep substantive understanding of WILPF’s core issues, rooted in academic training in gender, peace and security (LSE), war studies (Swedish Defence University), peace and conflict studies, and human rights (Lund University), combined with several years of practical advocacy, movement-building and organisational leadership work in Swedish civil society.  

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Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Ndongmo, is a Cameroonian peacebuilder, feminist leader, civil society actor and Women, Peace and Security expert with over 30 years of experience in peacebuilding, mediation, and gender equality advocacy. She serves as International President of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and Executive Secretary of Women Peace Initiatives. She coordinates the Women and Youth Early Warning Monitoring Room in Cameroon and was recently appointed to the African Union Advisory Panel on Democratic Elections and Governance in Africa. Her work focuses on advancing women’s leadership, conflict prevention, and sustainable peace through feminist, inclusive, and intergenerational approaches.  

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.