Thankful for Women Leaders

As I awaken to Thanksgiving Day, the world around me feels heavy. The third decade of this century is in its infancy, yet has been extraordinary. A pandemic, a global downturn and a deeply divided society brings into sharp focus the issues that are tearing us apart. Deep conflicts around the world that have brought uncertainty and despair to many. Right now, that is true most notably in Israel and Palestine – and this year alone we have witnessed conflict in Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, Iran, Armenia, and so many places around the world.?

The fault line is gender inequality and its cause is staring us in the face: our society’s own failure to move beyond patriarchal self-interest and act for the common good. We know what happens to women and girls in conflict: their lives are upended, rape crimes soar, and children are married off or trafficked with impunity. So, while we feel the impact of the challenges of the world around us, this Thanksgiving I am especially thankful to the women who are leading in conflict and crisis zones and around the world to build a better future. They are the hope that I seek in these troubled times.

Women’s leadership matters. Research shows that when women participate in peace negotiations, more agreements are reached – and they are reached faster and last longer. Women take a collaborative approach, work across lines, and center citizen lives over military actions. Israeli and Palestinian women have long built coalitions across national, ethnic, and religious lines to lead to non-violent efforts to promote security. In fact, autocrats across the world have been taken down by women’s movements who are able to effectively galvanize for peace. Research from the World Bank and the Council on Foreign Relations shows that women are better at securing peace. In the Philippines, women were more trusted to broker peace as tensions escalated in the Mindanao conflict in 2017 where peace was reached among 138 factions. Yet, between 1992 and 2019, women constituted, on average, just 13% of negotiations, 6% of mediators and 6% of signatories in major peace processes around the world. The World Bank tells us that including women increases the probability of an agreement lasting at least 15 years by 35%.

So why are we waiting to include them?

I recently had the privilege to spend a day with Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand. Many will recall how she handled the Christchurch massacre with sensitivity and empathy, centering the Muslim community and establishing her legacy as a leader. Her focus was on understanding the community’s pain and taking action within ten days to ban semi-automatic weapons and also recognizing that many New Zealanders, living in an agrarian society, own guns to deal with pests and rodents. She reimbursed citizens for voluntarily turning in their semi-automatic weapons and encouraged other gun owners to responsibly register their weapons and limit the number each family could legally own. Today, she is building on that legacy by addressing gender-based violence and its intersection with terrorist and violent extremism content fueled by AI-driven digital platforms that have no governance scaffolds.

In the United States, Secretary Deb Haaland is the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary. She is investigating the murders and disappearances of indigenous people and the effects of prior government policies that separated indigenous children from their families. Nancy Northrup is transforming how courts and governments understand reproductive rights. And Stacey Abrams is leading the charge to expand civic participation and voter awareness. These are women centering humanity and community and pushing for legal solutions. It’s what we do best at Equality Now. You see how women leaders have an outsized impact on communities, and we need more, many more.

If women are held back, the world’s glass will always be half empty. When women are leading change, the world’s glass will be full. As you sit down with your families and friends for Thanksgiving dinner – or even in moments of solitary reflection – make a pledge to center your thanks in elevating the women in your life and those around the world who promote peace and justice.