17:00, 13 May 2021
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
Stepping up for women worldwide actively driving forward peace in some of the most conflict-ridden places, the Wyss Foundation is supporting the vital mission of PeaceWomen Across the Globe (PWAG).
PWAG connects women peace activists globally, helping them to share knowledge and promoting women’s inclusion in peace processes in conflict zones such as Palestine and Israel.
The Wyss Foundation, funded by Swiss billionaire and businessman Hansjörg Wyss, will contribute to PWAG’s efforts to spotlight the power of women to initiate peaceful dialogue around the world.
“It is always exciting to see organizations that work to bring people together, share lessons learned and seek to empower,” said Molly McUsic, President of the Wyss Foundation. “The work that PeaceWomen Across the Globe has done and continues to do is inspiring.”
Funded by its billionaire founder, The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable foundation focused on advancing innovative, sustainable solutions that strengthen communities and help connect people to the land.
Exploring the Rocky Mountains in his younger days, Wyss developed a love for landscapes and a passion for innovation. After a career in medical science, Wyss launched the Wyss Foundation in 1998. His initial motivation was to protect the Western landscapes that inspired him.
Since then the foundation has branched out to support initiatives focused on conservation, education, economic opportunities and social justice. Each philanthropic investment seeks to encourage new ideas and new solutions that expand the reach of human possibility and compassion.
As a network of over 1000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, PWAG hopes to promote peace globally by strengthening bonds between women peace activists and giving them tools to lead projects for peace in volatile and conflict-hit countries. These include Colombia, Nepal, Ukraine, Palestine and the Philippines.
The organisation supports initiatives by documenting and raising awareness of the successes of women-led projects for peace globally.
“When women’s knowledge and experiences are heard, peace processes are sustainable - only then, peace is possible,” PWAG’s founder and co-president Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold states.
“This is why - together with partner organizations - we organize Women’s Peace Tables worldwide where women’s painful experiences of violence and their needs for peace are at the core.”
The international organisation, based in Bern, focuses particularly on including disadvantaged and marginalised women in peace efforts.
It has organised workshops on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, featuring women from the PWAG network as experts. It has led campaigns against domestic violence in Brazil, against femicide across Latin America and to ban small arms trade and proliferation in Mali. It also led One Billion Rising, a campaign to end violence against women and girls in India and Switzerland.
More recently they have partnered with the NGO TAM - Women & Media Development to take action against gender-based violence in Palestine.
To help build on their work donate here.
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