International Women’s Day podcast: Women as peacebuilders

“Every day a woman's right is abused,” said Riya William Yuyada, who fled South Sudan when she was a baby, but decided to return more than 20 years later to create a women’s movement for peace, Crown the Woman. “When women are part of peace, it is more sustainable.”

Across the world, women and girls are leading the fight for peace and more equal societies. In our new episode of the UN Human Rights Podcast, we meet three extraordinary women who are defending women’s rights amidst conflict and demanding a seat at peace and reconciliation tables.

Laila Alodaat is a human rights lawyer from Syria and is the Deputy Secretary General at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

“Misogyny and patriarchy kills. We can't afford not to make noise,” said Laila, who has worked for years on human rights litigation and advocacy and specializes in international law of armed conflicts.

For Nicole Ameline, a member and former chair of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the only way to a better world is to have more women in decision making.

“Patriarchy has excluded women for centuries. We need a paradigm shift.”