The Women Leaders Intercultural Forum (WLIF), a project of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, leverages women’s leadership to contribute to a more just and secure world.
WLIF brings the voices of marginalized women into the public arena by connecting Mary Robinson and other international women leaders to women at the local and national levels, generally in the context of conflict and post-conflict situations.
This strategy enables WLIF to serve as a “community elevator” to amplify the voices and priorities of women, empowering them as agents of change in their communities and in other venues in which they are traditionally not heard or granted access.
Read about WLIF's Theory of Change.
Women Leaders Intercultural Forum’s (WLIF) Program Areas
WLIF promotes the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on women, peace and security by:
- encouraging countries to create National Action Plans (NAPs), to link the development and implementation of NAPs with other countries through “twinning” strategies, and to use the formulation process as a peace-building strategy; and
- increasing the participation of women in efforts to achieve sustainable peace by amplifying their voices and priorities.
Read about WLIF’s Women Leaders Diplomacy Missions
WLIF supports the Government of Liberia on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 by supporting; the development of the Angie Brooks International Center; the peer-learning process on UNSCR 1325 with Ireland; and by advocating for increased financial and other resources for Liberia, particularly for activities that benefit women and girls.
Read about WLIF’s Activities with Liberia and the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership, Peace and Security
WLIF responds to strategic opportunities to strengthen the women’s movement on Peace and Security, primarily in Africa. In response to the 2007
violence in Kenya, WLIF mobilized 75 women leaders to support women activists on the ground. WLIF has also supported The Women’s Trust of
Zimbabwe, an NGO promoting women’s participation in decision-making. In addition, WLIF worked with The Elders on the Every Human Has Rights
campaign, which commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Latest News
June 4th 2009
Let's Stop Women Suffering
Mary Robinson and Alicia Yamin argue in an op-Ed published in The Boston Globe that preventable maternal death is a violation of women's rights. With the United Nations Human Rights Council's June session just around the corner, they challenge governments to prove that they value women's lives by taking concrete action on this issue.
May 10th 2009
Increasing Momentum for UNSCR 1325 National Action Plans
On April 24, 2009, Mary Robinson and Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Chair of The Institute for Inclusive Security, convened a group of prominent government, United Nations, and civil society leaders in New York to discuss strategies for increasing the development and implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) National Action Plans (NAPs) and to encourage creative international cooperation on NAPs.
For more information about the work of the Women Leaders Intercultural Forum, please contact:
Jennifer McCarthy
Director, Women Leaders Intercultural Forum
Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
271 Madison Avenue, Suite 1007
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 895-8089
Fax: (212) 895-8084
Email: jennifer.mccarthy@wliforum.org
