WUNRN
PeaceWomen Across the Globe Exhibit
& Interview at World YWCA Council
Based in
Eva Gillis and
Lasse Andersson brought this powerful exhibit to the World YWCA Council.
What is your
involvement in this project and how did it begin?
We have been
part of this exhibition project since the very beginning. The first exhibition
was launched at the time of the declaration of the Nobel Peace Price in
2005. We grew into the project and have been with it ever since – and it
is still going strong.
Where did the
idea for PeaceWomen come from? Who developed it, and how did the project evolve
over time?
Ruth Gaby
Vermot, a member of the Swiss Parliament and the European Council, had the idea
for PeaceWomen. Her work at the European Council inspired her and during her
travels, especially in conflict zones, she realised that women were doing
fantastic peace work in reconciliation and reconstruction. This is when the
incredible idea came to collectively nominate 1,000 women from 150 countries
for the Nobel Peace Prize. In order to give visibility to what these women were
doing, we created the exhibition and a documentary.
We feel it is
important to show that while Ruth Gaby Vermot saw this crucial work that was
being done by women, she also realised that in 100 years there had been many
men nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but only eleven or twelve women and a
few organisations like Amnesty International. She thought, “Why are there so
many men and only a few women? Let’s get a thousand women for the Nobel
Peace Prize!” And that is how the idea was born…
How were these
incredible women sought out?
Twenty
coordinators from around the world who worked in the field of peace were
brought together. Defining the criteria was the initial task. Since there are
hundreds of thousands of women worthy to be selected, the selection was based
on the work they had carried out on both the grassroots and academic level,
rather than personal prestige —anything in the area of peace so long as
it was sustainable.
How does
someone get involved in the network?
The network
will remain with these thousand women and no others. Even if every day we meet
someone who could be part of this project, the aim is not to try to get more
women. Projects will continually be created for those involved to be able to
work together, for instance on a regional level to develop a field project.
What have been
some of the effects of the exhibition, documentary, and book?
We have had
requests for the exhibition from all over the world. It has taken place in
Canada, New Zealand, Europe and Africa. Some one thousand exhibitions have
already taken place all over the world, with universities, religious groups,
YWCAs, or NGOs.
We have
travelled from Mexico to Mongolia, where we worked together with the
PeaceWomen. They had a platform to speak to an audience, give workshops,
network and reach out to others. It has been very successful and has caught the
attention of the press and television. There are times when the work can
even be a bit dangerous and the work needs to be done in a more discreet
manner.
Even though it
highlights serious problems in our society, the exhibition nevertheless brings
strength and positivity. The work of these women is fantastic and somehow you
feel the spirit and enthusiasm every time the exhibition comes together.
Can you share
any special stories about the power of this project?
There is one
story that comes to mind. When we were in Mongolia, the coordinator from Hong
Kong had brought with her two PeaceWomen from China to see the exhibition and
to work with the PeaceWomen from Mongolia. We were unaware of the history
and the problems that exist between Mongolia and China as countries, and as a
people. The two women, however came together as a team, and it was a beautiful
moment. Together they planted a forest in the desert representing the work they
did together.