Religions for Peace has a legacy of advancing gender equality, including the promotion of women’s leadership in institutions at the local, national, regional and global levels, and will continue to promote it as a core goal. The Global Women of Faith Network, led by its International Women’s Coordinating Committee, is at the forefront of Religions for Peace’s work towards gender equality.

The Global Women of Faith Network was launched by Religions for Peace in January 2001 and created the first edition of a directory listing of more than 350 women of faith organisations. Regional and national Women of Faith Networks were later established as critical components of Religions for Peace’s regional and national Interreligious Councils. These networks supported information sharing and exchange and facilitated joint programmes among women’s groups through the decades that provided psychosocial support to victims of conflict, countered violent extremism, and addressed myriads of common concerns, including poverty, health, etc. As an illustrative example, it was the Women of Faith who succeeded in securing the release of child hostages in Sierra Leone during the civil war in that country, which eventually led to the Lome Peace Accord.

Often times long before any external aid arrives, women in areas of conflict are the ones on the ground working to meet human needs and rebuild peaceful societies. Religions for Peace created a unique Women of Faith Transforming Conflict: A Multi-Religious Training Manual, that translates this critical subject into practical training materials that have been tested in the field by women of faith from West Africa and Southeast Europe. The experience of these religious women on the front lines of violent conflict provides valuable tools and lessons for all women and men working to promote peace.

Violence against woman is a persistent global problem – one Religions for Peace had dedicated itself to combating.

In August 2013, Religions for Peace advanced gender equality through its “Restoring Dignity” campaign, a global initiative dedicated to engaging faith-based organizations, religious leaders, communities and individuals of faith for common action to end violence against women and girls. The toolkit was designed in collaboration with diverse global religious leaders to be used by all those responding to the moral responsibility of preventing violence against women and girls and providing care and support to all who have suffered and endured it. The toolkit offers religious leaders and communities the tools to carry out awareness and act together in partnership within and across faiths as powerful agents of prevention, protection and support for ending all forms of violence against women and girls.

In August 2019, women in the Middle East launched a Multi-religious Platform for the Common Good. Muslim, Jewish, and Christian women of faith leaders in the Middle East and North Africa led a multi-religious mission to Jordan to forge a historic partnership for peace in the region. With religious identity a de facto fault line for regional conflict, the coalition brought together, supported, and promoted Muslim, Christian, and Jewish women to serve as advocates and policy-influencers in the region. This partnership was a highlight of our 10th World Assembly, where Religions for Peace also elected its first Muslim and first female Secretary General, Prof. Dr. Azza Karam. The largest number of women in our history were also elected to serve on the World Council– the movement’s highest-level decision-making body.