Friday November 6, 2020, 7:30 pm

The Bahá'í Perspective on the Role of Women in Peacebuilding with Cheshmak Farhoumand-Sims

Despite growing international recognition of women’s effectiveness at promoting peace and increasing awareness of the disproportionate impact conflict has on women and girls, female representation in peace and security processes has lagged. Yet when women are at the negotiating table, peace is 35% more likely to last at least 15 years.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá discussed the important role women play in the prevention and resolution of violent conflict almost 100 years before the UNSC adopted Resolution 1325, and the Universal House of Justice reiterated this fundamental belief:

“The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality between the sexes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace. The denial of [women’s] equality perpetrates an injustice against one half of the world’s population…Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavour will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge.”

This presentation explores the Bahá'í writings on the role of women in peacebuilding by reflecting on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, as well as evidence from conflict-affected contexts.