Over the past 15 years, USIP has supported over 90 projects related to women, conflict, and peacebuilding. From grants to fellowships, from training to education, from working groups to publications, the Institute strives to encourage more practice and scholarly work on women, and seeks to deepen understanding of the role of women in conflict and in peace.

On the Issues: Women, Conflict, and Peacebuilding

Over the past 15 years, USIP has supported over 90 projects related to women, conflict, and peacebuilding.  From grants to fellowships, from training to education, from working groups to publications, the Institute strives to encourage more practice and scholarly work on women, and seeks to deepen understanding of the role of women in conflict and in peace.

The Institute's Grant Program has funded over 50 projects related to women throughout the world, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda. Grant projects address both practice and research, and include a wide range of women-focused concerns from war-time sexual violence; women as negotiators; cross-ethnic and religious cooperation among women; building social tolerance and respect for women's equality; to rule of law problems for women in post-conflict societies.

The Institute integrates gender issues into its core education and training programs. Internationally, USIP conducts ongoing training programs in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and makes great effort to stress the importance of including women as participants in training programs, especially in more traditional societies where women are often excluded.

Projects

Below are brief descriptions of some of USIP's recent projects that focus on women:

  • Network of Iraqi Widows
    Decades of conflict and economic sanctions have turned an unusually high percentage of Iraqi women into widows.  For these women and their families, the death of their partners and primary breadwinners is a source of animosity toward the "other," but also a basis for reconciliation. USIP in concert with an Iraqi partner is encouraging the latter through joint training sessions with widows drawn from both Sunni and Shi'i communities in Baghdad. Widows received training in conflict management, while concurrently working to overcome their shared animosity. Widows who graduate from the program identify other widows for future training. Through the initiative, Sunni and Shi'i widows (and their children) are building relationships that cut across sectarian lines, are developing peacebuilding skills relevant to their communities, and are working with civil and governmental organizations to address the practical needs of widows and their children.
  • Women and Afghan Jirgas
    Despite some progress in Afghanistan, citizens often view the police and judiciary with suspicion. In the absence of a reliable formal judiciary, traditional local decision-making bodies called Jirgas offer an alternative framework for conflict resolution. In the Western province of Herat, the Institute is supporting a project to help reform Jirgas and increase the participation of women and minority groups in their work. 
  • Role of Women in Demobilization and Reconciliation in Colombia
    In Colombia, women have played central roles in community-based peacebuilding. To document their contributions, and to distill and disseminate lessons learned, USIP is supporting a local NGO in Putumayo as it assesses the role of local women in demobilization and reconciliation efforts.
  • Human Rights and The women of Iraq Individuals who cannot read often have difficulty accessing information on human rights and other key concepts of democracy. This is the case in rural Iraq, where the female literacy rate is less than 40 percent. Recognizing this, USIP funded a project to develop a 45-minute animated film on the status of girls and women and their rights in Iraqi society. Produced in both Arabic and Kurdish, the film targets primary, middle, and high school students, as well as women in rural areas. In just 36 weeks the film was shown in 700 schools, and was broadcast via local and satellite television throughout Iraq. In interviews with participating educators and students, 95 percent indicated that the film and workshops strengthened their understanding of democracy, the constitutional process, and human rights.
  • Conflict Transformation at the Local Level: Youth, Women, and Children in the Nuba Mountains Region of Sudan
    In the Nuba Mountains, with the support of USIP, an NGO pursues a multifaceted approach to conflict transformation at the local level. Activities include conflict resolution and reconciliation training sessions for youth, ex-combatants, and women; peace festivals, sporting events and exchange programs between four villages enmeshed in low-level conflict; and theater productions to teach school children and their parents about conflict resolution and a culture of peace.
  • Women's Memories of War, Peace and Resistance From Colombia 1995-2008
    USIP supports a Historical Memory Commission report on the gendered dynamics of war in the northern coastal region of Colombia. The study analyzes how violence against women occurred within the armed conflict, the gender discriminatory mechanisms involved in that violence, the participation of women within that violence, and also the resistance initiatives promoted by women.
  • Understanding Sexual Violence During War: A Comparative Study
    In an effort to explore the causal mechanisms that underlie variations in wartime sexual violence and suggest ways to reduce such violence, USIP funds this study that combines statistical analysis of data gathered by truth commissions, human rights groups, war crimes tribunals, and medical groups, with field research in El Salvador, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Colombia.

Publications

Special Reports

Peaceworks

USIPeace Briefings

Events

Training Programs

Specialists

Below are specialists that focus on women and conflict:

  • Virginia Bouvier
  • Kathleen Kuehnast
  • Asieh Mir
  • Manal Omar
  • Marie Pace
  • Mary Hope Schwoebel
  • Mona Yacoubian

Latest Research & Analysis

What the DRC-Rwanda Peace Deal Means for the U.S. and Africa’s Mineral-Rich Great Lakes Region

What the DRC-Rwanda Peace Deal Means for the U.S. and Africa’s Mineral-Rich Great Lakes Region

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Last Friday, the foreign ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) met in Washington to sign an agreement to end 30 years of conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes region. The peace deal was accompanied by commitments to build a “regional economic integration framework” and promises of U.S. investment in eastern DRC’s abundant critical mineral reserves, among other commercial agreements.

Type: Question and Answer

The 2022 Pelosi Visit to Taiwan: Assessing US-China Signaling and Action-Reaction Dynamics

The 2022 Pelosi Visit to Taiwan: Assessing US-China Signaling and Action-Reaction Dynamics

Monday, July 7, 2025

In recent years, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have found it particularly challenging to interpret one another’s foreign policy signals. Misinterpretation of each other’s signaling may contribute to a bilateral action-reaction dynamic and can intensify into an action-reaction cycle and escalation spiral.

Type: Report

Philippines: Former Combatants Help Keep the Peace During Recent Polls

Philippines: Former Combatants Help Keep the Peace During Recent Polls

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

By: Haroro Ingram, Country Director, Philippines, USIP

For decades, the struggle for peace in the Philippines’ southernmost island of Mindanao has been characterized by armed conflict between the Philippines government and Moro separatist groups, like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and cycles of failed peace processes. The historic 2014 peace agreement between the Philippines government and MILF led to the granting of greater self-governance with the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) five years later. What has followed since is an unprecedented, yet very fragile, period of peace and stability.

Type: Analysis

With Cease-fire Holding, Can Israel and Iran Move Toward De-escalation?

With Cease-fire Holding, Can Israel and Iran Move Toward De-escalation?

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Israel’s stunning and sophisticated June 13 attack on Iran set off a worrying 12-day escalatory spiral. Iran responded in short order with ballistic missile and drone strikes, which led to a series of tit-for-tat exchanges between the two sides. A cease-fire is now in place -- but will it hold?

Type: Analysis

What Are the Limits of U.S.-India Security Burden-Sharing in the Indian Ocean?

What Are the Limits of U.S.-India Security Burden-Sharing in the Indian Ocean?

Monday, June 23, 2025

By: Nilanthi Samaranayake, Adjunct Fellow, East-West Center

When viewing U.S. partnerships in the maritime domain, relations with India, in particular, have thrived — especially over the past decade. Moreover, the partnership enjoys bipartisan support in the United States. Indications after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House in February 2025 are that U.S.-India security relations will continue to be strong in the second Trump administration.

Type: Analysis

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