Storytellers: Hear from the 2019 Women PeaceMakers on Nov. 5

Everyone has a story. Everyone’s story is different. But starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theatre, four storytellers gracing the stage will deliver impactful and crucially important stories that need to be heard — and it’s all in the name of peacebuilding for a better world.

In 10-minute individual segments to be done TED Talk-style, Rina Kedem from Israel/Palestine, Lilian Riziq of South Sudan, Mossarat Qadeem from Pakistan and North Dakota’s Ruth Buffalo, will each share details of their impressive life stories. Collectively, they are the 2019 cohort of USD’s Women PeaceMakers Program. They are women who’ve had unique experiences, who’ve demonstrate their passion for peace, have made sacrifices and have the leadership skills to do great work while facing great challenges.

At the conclusion of the four talks, an interactive Q&A will take place with these women and Jennifer Bradshaw, who is the program officer of the Women PeaceMakers Program.

The four women are currently doing a six-week residency on the USD campus. It is part of a year-long fellowship in which they are collectively working with a researcher to gather key learnings and insights on how to build more equitable funding partnerships between local women peacebuilders and peacebuilding funders. The insight they offer can ensure that policymakers and practitioners are funding projects that align with local and real-time peacebuilding needs.

The Women PeaceMakers Program, which is in its 18th year at USD’s Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, has hosted 69 women spanning more than 30 countries around the world. This year’s cohort, which includes Buffalo, the first-ever Woman PeaceMaker from the United States, is another reminder of the powerful purpose and importance of having more women at the peace table.

When women participate in peace processes, the resulting agreement is 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years, yet the majority of peace agreements signed from 1990 to today have zero female signatories. By sharing insight, learnings and strategies of women peacebuilders who’ve overcome barriers to participate within the peace process, this program is one opportunity to amplify and strengthen the voices of women, which results in stronger, more sustainable peace accords. By bringing USD’s Women PeaceMakers together, enabling them to learn from and with one another, the community of Women PeaceMakers grows stronger.

RSVP for Tuesday night’s Women PeaceMakers event.