From April 30 – May 3, emerging leaders from more than twenty countries came together in Monrovia, Liberia for Claiming Our Space: Emerging Feminist Voices for Peace—a groundbreaking summit co-hosted with Nobel peace laureate, Leymah Gbowee, and the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa. And — spoiler alert — it was awesome!
For a detailed recap of the event, read this blog post from one of the participating emerging leaders, Louise McGowan, who reflects on her experience in Liberia!
And in case you missed it in real time, follow the entire summit through our Instagram story recaps below, which cover the groundbreaking conversations, movement building, and global connections we forged when we claimed our space together! Because #HerPlace is leading the revolution.
Day One
On day one of the summit we heard from incredible women’s rights activists from around the world about the work they are doing to claim their space in peace processes and anti-militarization efforts! The group heard from five trailblazing Nobel peace laureates, and discussed topics such as conflict, migration, and gun-violence.
Day Two
We kicked off the day with a powerful keynote speech from Nobel peace laureate, Shirin Ebadi, about the women’s rights movement in Iran. This was followed by youth-led discussions with Nobel peace laureates Leymah Gbowee and Rigoberta Menchú Tum, and case studies from countries including South Sudan, Cameroon, Colombia and Northern Ireland.
Day Three
On the final day of the summit we discussed finding joy in the work and the importance of self-care, not only for the health of individual activists, but for the health of the movements. Our bold Nobel peace laureates and brave emerging leaders made lasting connections, learned from each other, and even danced!
Bonus!
On the morning of May 3, we were lucky to visit Mama Toma. She is the founder of Traditional Women United for Peace, a group which works to transform harmful traditional practices — such as female genital mutilation (FGM) — into rites of passage that are safe and empowering for young women. They also work to prevent conflict and educate girls in their community!
LEARN MORE:
Don’t forget to read activist and attendee, Louise McGowan’s blog post for Peace People!
Check out our blog to meet some of the women we connected with during the summit.
And visit our partner and incredible co-host for this conference, Gbowee Peace Foundation of Africa!