Mairead Maguire joins ‘freedom flotilla’: Gaza
Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire joined the Free Gaza flotilla this month, sailing on the Irish cargo ship MV Rachel Corrie. The ship, whose passengers included Maguire, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday, and other Irish and Malaysian activists, was attempting to bring humanitarian supplies to blockaded Gaza. Maguire was detained outside of Tel Aviv on Saturday, June 5 after Israeli naval commandos intercepted and illegally boarded the vessel. She has called on the international community, particularly the United States and Europe, to uphold international law and end the siege on Gaza.
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Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire will increase efforts to break siege on Gaza
Nobel Women’s Initiative calls for safe passage of MV Rachel Corrie
Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire appeals to Israel to allow safe passage to Gaza
Women hold the key to democracy and human rights in Iran
In an Op Ed published in The Guardian and The Progressive earlier this month, Shirin Ebadi called on the world to recognize the contribution and courage of Iran’s women activists. Ebadi’s message was clear: “Mark my words: It will be women who will bring democracy to Iran.” Iranian women have come to lead the movement for democracy and human rights, forming an integral part of the Green Movement and One Million Signatures Campaign.
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Shirin Ebadi: The brutal crackdowns only make Iran's women stronger, The Guardian, 8 June 2010.
Millions to highlight anniversary of elections in Iran on June 12
Iran drops Human Rights Council bid; seizes Commission on the Status of Women nod
One-year after Iran's stolen election: crackdown on opposition continues
June 12 marked the one-year anniversary of the elections that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the presidency in Iran. In the past year, more than 100 opposition activists have faced mass trial, and 80 have been sentenced to death or given prison terms of up to 15 years. The Nobel Women’s Initiative has partnered with United4Iran, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Reporters Without Borders to demand the release of Iran’s political prisoners. Iran carried out yet another wave of arrests this month, detaining long-time women’s activist Narges Mohammadi, who is vice president of the human rights center founded by Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi.
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World united to call for the release of all Iranian Journalists and Political Prisoners
Iran marks election anniversary with more arrests
Shirin Ebadi calls for immediate investigation of Iran human rights abuses
Nobel Laureates successfully push Harper to discuss climate - G8/G20
The six laureates of the Nobel Women’s Initiative called upon Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and members of the United Nations Security Council to ensure that climate change is a central focus of the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings being held this week in Canada. As well, in an op-ed published in The Globe and Mail, Jody Williams challenged Canadians to show the same degree of leadership on climate change as the world once saw with the negotiation of the Mine Ban Treaty and other international humanitarian and environmental endeavors. The laureates' efforts met with success. On June 14, Prime Minister Harper announced that climate change would be on the table for both the G8 and G20.
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Nobel Laureates to G8/G20 leaders: Put climate change on the agenda
Nobel Laureates urge Harper to put climate change on G20 agenda, Canwest News Service, 9 June 2010.
Jody Williams joins forces with Palestinian-Israeli women for peace
Nobel Laureate Jody Williams met with Palestinian and Israeli women leaders at a conference in Spain this month. The conference, hosted by the International Women's Commission (IWC) and UNIFEM, promoted the need for an urgent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis – one that accounts for women’s peace and security. The meeting occurred at a crucial moment – just one-day after the Israeli attacks on the Free Gaza flotilla. Palestinian, Israeli and international women delegates spoke with one voice to condemn Israel’s military attack on civilians, and the continued violation of international and humanitarian law.
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Jody Williams attends International Women's Commission conference on Israel-Palestine
Jody Williams: We must work toward a nuclear weapons free future
Nobel Laureate Jody Williams renewed the call for global nuclear disarmament in New York last month, while speaking at the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. She urged world leaders to ban nuclear weapons once and for all. She called on all governments to begin the negotiation of a comprehensive treaty banning the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.
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Read Jody's statement to the NPT Review Conference
Jody Williams: The time for nuclear disarmament is now
Watch Jody speak about the possibility of a nuclear free world
Burma Tribunal report now available
The Nobel Women’s Initiative and the Women’s League of Burma have released a report summarizing the findings of the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma, which took place in New York on March 2. The report documents the testimonies of 12 brave women who broke the silence on the human rights violations committed by the military regime. Heisoo Shin, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, and Vitit Muntarbhorn, acting as judges, documented the full findings and provided recommendations to the Burmese regime, the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN), and members of the international community.
Learn more:
Read the full report
Video: Hear from women of Burma, Tribunal judges, and attendees
Webcast: Watch the the Tribunal online as it happened
NWI sends delegation to the Review Conference for the International Criminal Court
Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai led a delegation to the first Review Conference of the International Criminal Court in Kampala, Uganda from May 31 – June 4. The laureates, along with other activists including Suzanne Jambo from Sudan, contributed to the examination of the Court’s record, and joined their voices to call for a global end to impunity for gender-based crimes. As well, Maathai published an Op Ed in The East African about African leadership and the International Criminal Court. The Op Ed, combined with two press conferences – one in Nairobi and one in Kampala – and a press briefing by the laureates, resulted in unprecedented media coverage in Africa around issues of gender justice.
Follow-up online:
Visit the delegation blog
Wangari Maathai: International Criminal Court Belongs to Us Africans, The East African, 24 May 2010.
Wangari Maathai: ICC our only shield from crimes against humanity, The Daily Nation, 17 June 2010.
Better laws needed to protect women, Reuters, 4 June 2010.
First ever International Gender Justice Dialogue convenes in Mexico
On April 20 to 21, more than 50 women’s rights advocates, gender experts, and legal practitioners came together in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to take part in the International Gender Justice Dialogue initiative. The conference was convened by the Nobel Women’s Initiative and Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, and took place at a critical moment – prior to the first ever Review Conference of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Delegates critically examined how to strengthen accountability for gender-based crimes through the ICC and identified new strategies for advancing gender justice worldwide.
Follow-up online:
Watch the sessions, read reflections from participants, and learn more on the Dialogue blog
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