Women PeaceMakers Program

Made possible by a grant from the Fred J. Hansen Foundation

2003 Women PeaceMakers Biographical Abstracts

A Women PeaceMakers Program (WPP) was initiated in 2003 at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ) at the University of San Diego through a generous grant from the Fred J. Hansen Foundation. The IPJ acknowledges women have an essential role in the building of a just and lasting peace, a role that is frequently ignored or overlooked. The WPP is one response to the growing need to engage and acknowledge women in human rights and peacemaking in this period of violent, intra-state and inter-state conflicts. 

Four women leaders were selected to participate in the first WPP.  These women were selected from hundreds of extraordinary peacemakers and human rights activists from around the world who applied in 2003.  They began a 10-week residency at the IPJ on September 29, 2003.  While in San Diego, the Women PeaceMakers shared their knowledge, documented their work,  had time to learn, and reflect on where to go next.

Coming from countries that have experienced armed conflicts and civil rights abuses, these women played key roles in peacemaking and human rights advocacy in their local, national, or regional communities.  Each participant was chosen for her demonstrated commitment, innovative work, and success in inspiring action in her community. The women benefited from the opportunity to record and share their lives while, at the same time, having a safe space in which they could rest and reflect on their work, and prepare for what lies ahead. Each peacemaker had an assistant writer assigned to work with her, and she was given financial and logistical support during her stay. 

The Institute for Peace & Justice Women PeaceMakers Program is pleased to introduce the 2003 Women PeaceMakers:

Hyun-Sook Kim Lee from Korea

Currently the vice president of the Korean Red Cross, Lee was raised in post-World War II Korea in a Confucian society marked by extreme poverty, heightened tension and militarization due to the political division between the North and South. As a student at the Hanshin Theological Seminary, Lee studied globally conscious theology which focused on politics and international affairs. She is the youngest member of the Presidential Advisory Committee for Reunification and the chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Reunification Ministry.

Through her work as chief of the Women's Desk at the Korea Christian Academy, Lee, in collaboration with her colleagues, was responsible for initiating a program aimed at raising awareness and eradicating domestic violence in South Korea. The Korea Women's Hotline provides guidance and support to victims of domestic violence and has served as a catalyst for the progressive women's movement in Korea. The hotline was instrumental in establishing domestic and sexual violence as criminal acts in South Korea.

As co-founder and former executive director of Women Making Peace, an NGO established in 1997, with the goal of creating a culture of peace on the Korean peninsula, Lee has helped to open the door between the two Koreas by getting humanitarian aid to the North and encouraging the first people-to-people visits. Women Making Peace is a multi-dimensional organization that views gender equality, demilitarization, denuclearization, respect for human rights and the eventual reunification of North and South Korea as several of the necessary steps to making peace a reality. In the 10 years since its inception, Women Making Peace has forged new ground by bringing peace, gender and reunification issues to the forefront of Korean society.

In her present post at the Korean Red Cross, Lee is engaging in humanitarian activities, which has included her participation in the reunion of separated families across the divide of the peninsula. Inspired by her time at the IPJ, Lee recently initiated a 1325 Peace Club, which works toward implementing in Korea the agreed-upon commitments as outlined by the U.N. Security Council Resolution. The 1325 Peace Club activities also include visits to training centers for defectors from North Korea, of which approximately 70 percent are women, and the submission of recommendations to the minister of unification and related officials on appropriate measures for the successful resettlement of women. Lee has received the prestigious National Reconciliation Award from the Korean Council of Reconciliation and Cooperation, made up of leaders from NGOs and government, and a National Decoration from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Click here for Narrative.

More information on Hyun-Sook Lee.

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Raya Kadyrova from Kyrgyzstan

Raya Kadyrova is the president and founder of Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI), an NGO founded in 1998 in Kyrgyzstan and which operates in the cross-border communities of the Ferghana Valley in Central Asia. Dedicated to preventing and transforming interethnic conflicts, FTI has developed a reputation as the premier NGO in its region for its ability to bring divided communities together in the spirit of peace and for its efforts to lend a voice to disenfranchised populations.

After graduating from the University of Bishkek, Kadyrova became a language instructor for the U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers in Kyrgyzstan and later joined the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to implement a tolerance education project, minimizing tensions between Kyrgyz and Tajik students. During incursions into southern Kyrgyzstan by Islamic extremists in 1999 and 2000, known as the Batken War, FTI established camps for IDPs and set up Radio Salam and Salam Asia, a radio station and magazine – critical outlets of information for the displaced population. For her and FTI's efforts in the Batken War, Kadyrova was conferred the title of Honorary Citizen of Batken Oblast by the government of Kyrgyzstan, the only woman among seven recipients.

Additionally, Kadyrova has strived to make police reform a priority in the country and is one of two civil society representatives in the Government Committee on Police Reform in Kyrgyzstan. She is also civil society representative in the Council on Human Rights of the Kyrgyz Republic and is currently chairing the Civil Society Advisory Board to the United Nations, which institutionalizes cooperation channels between the United Nations and civil society and seeks to improve the efficacy of U.N. activity in Kyrgyzstan.

While FTI remains focused on its original goals of preventing violent conflict and building peace and justice throughout Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, it has expanded its efforts from the amelioration of interethnic conflicts in the Ferghana Valley to address a broader range of conflicts, particularly between corrupt governmental authorities and the citizenry of Kyrgyzstan. Kadyrova refers to this shift as a change in focus from horizontal to vertical issues, which is the result of the changing political context within the country. Therefore, FTI has developed programs aimed at the development of an effective multiparty democracy, improving the capacity of local government bodies, enhancing democratic decision making at the local level and incorporating women and youth in the peaceful democratic development of Kyrgyzstan. In addition, FTI is responsible for the development of the Early Warning for Violence Prevention program, which utilizes constant monitoring processes to raise awareness of potential and actual conflicts throughout Kyrgyzstan; it is the first early warning system in Central Asia. In 2005, Kadyrova was one of the 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

More information on Raya Kadyrova.

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Zahra Ugas Farah from Somalia

Zahra Ugas Farah is a founding member and director of the Family Economy Rehabilitation Organization (FERO), originally created in 1992 to meet the basic survival needs of people suffering from the violent civil war in Somalia. Within a year of its founding, FERO was appointed deputy head of food distribution, working directly with the World Food Program. The organization has since expanded its work to include HIV/AIDS awareness; the elimination of the practice of female genital mutilation; the empowerment of women through education, income-generating projects and skills building; and incorporating women into capacity building and decision making at the local and national levels. When government and Ethiopian troops battled Islamic insurgents in 2006 and 2007, re-igniting pronounced violent conflict in the country, FERO mobilized women’s groups in Mogadishu and called on the warring sides to observe international human rights standards; the organization also continued their humanitarian work to save lives during the height of the fighting.

The daughter of a clan chief and a devout Muslim, Farah has been participating in the Somali peace process as a key civil society leader. At the Somali Reconciliation Conference in 2002, Farah served as a member of the Committee on Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, and later was nominated to chair meetings of the Leaders Committee composed of rival warlords attempting to communicate and find resolution to the conflict. FERO has hosted hundreds of events to educate local communities on Somali women’s role in reconciliation and peace processes. However, as the quota of women holding government positions in Somalia is not being filled, Farah and her colleagues are using forums and declarations to revitalize the call for and realization of women’s rights and representation.

Click here for Narrative.

More information on Zahra Ugas Farah.

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Dalit Baum from Israel

Dalit Baum is a feminist involved in community work, human rights and conflict resolution activities in Israel. She took part in Palestinian-Israeli projects and the women's peace movement, but it was the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising, the Al Aqsa intifada, which spurred her to new levels of activism against the growing racism, violence and hatred she saw around her. She became an organizer in the Coalition of Women for Just Peace, a community of various women's groups working for peace; started a new Women in Black vigil in Tel Aviv where Palestinian and Israeli women stand bravely and silently against the conflict; co-founded Black Laundry, a direct action group of lesbians, gay men and transgenders against the occupation and for social justice; has worked as a teacher and group facilitator at the Community School for Women; and participates in various solidarity and humanitarian initiatives in Israel and Palestine. Marcia Freedman, former member of the Knesset and president of the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, says Baum is "brilliant, daring and original" and "a steady and constant activist who brought creativity and unwavering commitment to the table" as it became extremely difficult for women to have their voices heard after 2000. From her introduction to grassroots nongovernmental work in 1998 to her work with the National Feminist Conferences – which allowed her to be at the forefront of Israeli feminist culture – to her co-founding direct action groups such as Black Laundry, Baum has successfully used the power of activism and organization to unite marginalized people in an effort to achieve peace. Baum continues to raise awareness about injustices within the Israeli community, promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians and highlight the connections between all forms of oppression within society.

More information on Dalit Baum.

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Contact Information:
Erika Lopez, MA
Women PeaceMakers Program
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
USA
Fax: 1.619.260.7570
* Alternative fax number: 1.619.260.7809
E-mail: erika.lopez@sandiego.edu