Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Peace strategist and Executive Director, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
/Here are three pieces of advice:
Always bring a gender lens to whatever work you do.
It is important to put yourself in the position of the other person with empathy and respect.
Dare to launch projects and implement ideas, even if they seem difficult.
CV IN BRIEF
EDUCATION MPHIL IN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
CAREER SO FAR FOUNDER & CEO INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY ACTION NETWORK (ICAN) | SENIOR EXPERT GENDER AND INCLUSION UN DPPA | UNFPA | ADVISORY BOARD CENTRE FOR FEMINIST FOREIGN POLICY (CFFP) | MEMBER OF THE STEERING BOARD UK NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY | COMMONWEALTH’S PANEL OF EXPERTS ON COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM (CVE) | UNDP CIVIL SOCIETY ADVISORY COUNCIL | ADJUNCT PROFESSOR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY | DIRECTOR CENTRE FOR WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AT LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (LSE) | STEERING GROUP MEMBER WOMEN MEDIATORS ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH (WMC)
DATE OF INTERVIEW JANUARY 2020
AUTHOR LARA TWERENBOLD
You are a peace activist with a special focus on women's rights and preventing violent extremism. What sparked your interest towards that career path?
When I was 11 years old, the revolution started in my home country Iran. This experience made me realise the trauma that arises when a crisis breaks out in your own country. Many of today’s conflicts are internationalised internal conflicts. I wanted to prevent such conflicts by creating a space for dialogue and compromise that would allow for conflicts to be resolved without violence. Moreover, my experience and research showed that when crises and conflicts break out, it is always the women picking up the broken pieces and taking the responsibility to protect communities. The common thread running through my work is the recognition that when conflict and violent extremism arise, a cohort of women peacemakers emerges and raises its voice. I was interested in the question of how to integrate those women at the highest levels of negotiations where decisions are being made. As peace advocates on the ground during times of war and crisis, their knowledge is of great importance when it comes to the question of how to define and deal with the concepts of peace and security. We as women should have the right to shape the future of peace and to define the meaning of security for our countries, for our communities, and the world.
Can you tell us about your experience at “International Alert”?
Before I came into this field, I worked in management consulting and marketing where I learned to understand my audience and to formulate messages in a comprehensible way. I also tried my hand at banking and journalism, interning at CNN and BBC. After some time, I concluded that I didn't want to do only reporting. Instead, I wanted to help shape the course of events. I joined the non-profit organisation "International Alert" in England, which was one of the very few international organisations dealing with post-Cold War conflict transformation issues. Through the work of my colleagues, I came across the importance of the work of women peacemakers. In 1998, I helped organise the first global conference on women in war which led to the realization that a political platform was urgently needed for the recognition of women peacebuilders. We launched a global campaign “Women building Peace, from the Village Council to the Negotiating Table” with organisations from the Global North and the Global South to advocate collectively on Security Council resolutions, with the aim to enter the security council - a space where women had never had a voice before.
Can you describe your role as Executive Director of ICAN? What does your work entail?
In terms of forming ICAN, I had done a lot of consulting work with different parts of the UN for many years. You get to do interesting work as a consultant, but you have no control over what happens to your findings after handing them over to an institution. Focusing the peace and security agenda on the recognition and support of women peacemakers was not just a career for me, but a calling. There is a universality about how, in the context of crises, certain women emerge as these incredible superheroes. The drive behind ICAN was to create a platform with the aim of providing comprehensive and holistic support to individuals, and the establishment and strengthening of structures and their institutions. It was about allowing people and organisations to be locally rooted and part of a global movement.
The idea was to elevate and amplify the work and the perspective of women peacebuilders in conflict zones and people dealing with violent extremism. To this aim, we have set up the “Women's Alliance for Security Leadership”. We have a holistic approach. On a personal level, we provide solidarity and a sense of belonging to a global family. Professionally we provide opportunities for our partners to have voice and visibility at international political forums such as the UN Security Council. We also do a lot of capacity-building support, both substantively on issues such as gender-responsive ceasefire negotiations and transitional justice, and experience sharing around prevention and countering of violent extremism. Finally, we support their organisations by providing grants, technical and strategic support as well as financial management, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation training to bring their local organisations to a standard of excellence internationally and enable them to access other resources and partnerships.
What helped you to become a strong voice for peacebuilding and women's rights and to establish your own organisation?
I've often found that ignorance can be bliss. If I had known how difficult it would be to set up ICAN, I may have been put off. My focus has always been on what is the right thing to do. What needs to be created or what needs to be done? It's important to have substantive knowledge and an understanding of what had been done previously in the area. But it's also important not to get frightened or put off by bureaucracy. Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. You always need to be able to imagine the next step even though you might not know exactly what lies ahead of you. I was new to the world of the United Nations and governments when we worked on getting the vote on Security Council Resolution 1325. But I always knew about the importance of our cause. Women at the negotiating table make an indispensable contribution to peacebuilding. If we are genuinely interested in promoting peace, we should be interested in finding out how to bring women to the negotiating table. With that kind of thought in mind, it didn't occur to me that I shouldn't be engaging.
You have multiple identities as an Iranian by birth, an anthropologist, UK citizen and peace activist. How has this shaped you in your career?
Anthropology teaches you to understand the complexity of systems, both the visible and the invisible connection. My first degree in English Literature has helped me see the stories and develop empathy. Frameworks that only do context analysis can be dangerous. The social, cultural, economic and political aspects that enable a society to function are necessary for a more balanced and nuanced understanding of social dynamics. Going into places as a woman in the space of peace and security, being married (and later divorced) to an Italian living in the United States, people often assume things about you. So how do you understand yourself and your multiple identities to be able to draw out the different pieces, to be able to connect to people? Many years ago, I was in Nepal doing a workshop on peace and the role of women in gender issues. As I was describing things, I mentioned that I have children. This changed the dynamics of our conversation because all of a sudden, the participants could relate to me as mothers. Very often it is about that human connection and being able to genuinely relate. You have to be conscious and aware of your own multiple identities and how to draw on them.
What difficulties do you encounter in doing your job in a world that is increasingly conflictual, for example, when you look at Iran and the United States?
The night of 7 January 2020 was horrific when we were all waiting to see if World War III was going to break out. It was infuriating to note that while this public bombast between the US and Iran was taking place on Twitter; behind the scenes, the Swiss intermediaries were having a much more calm and rational discussion with the message to de-escalate the situation. The emotional manipulation that is taking place publicly is appalling. It created this atmosphere of war, which then resulted in one man at air defence in Teheran putting his hand on the trigger and accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane. Political leaders should be held accountable for creating this atmosphere of war leading to the death of innocent civilians.
After all the destruction and loss of life, people have to come together and talk to each other to come up with a political solution. My network of women peacebuilders has always had this courage to reach out and talk, which is exactly what is needed in times of crisis like these. When Covid-19 hit, they were the first responders in their communities. The major powers and the powerful institutions are failing in their fundamental responsibility to protect local populations at risk in times of crisis. Women peacebuilders have taken on that burden of care. They are putting their own lives on the line. We need global leaders and the public audience to cool down, and then have the courage to sit down and talk to each other to prevent and end wars. Instead what has happened is that our governments are using the lives of military personnel for their own political gains while putting civilians at risk.
What are the most challenging aspects of your career, especially as a woman?
There is still a lack of recognition for the work of women peacebuilders. They may come with mediation skills or with a development background, but being a peacebuilder has its own specific characteristics. Getting recognition for them and for the type of work they do continues to be hard, even within the community of women's rights defenders. There tends to be an assumption about their work being essentialist. However, there's nothing inherently natural or essential about the work of peacebuilding. It takes courage and strategy and combining traditional or cultural practices (where often women had mediation roles) with modern-day tactics and insistence on international laws.
A second aspect is that the academic field has always been, and still is, dominated by Western, especially Anglophone women. Looking back on the foundation of the United Nations and the emergence of the UN Charter, Eleanor Roosevelt is always credited with having advocated for the inclusion of both men and women in the Declaration of Human Rights. But it was the Brazilian delegate Dr Bertha Lutz who campaigned to have the articles on gender equality included in the UN Charter. People are constantly being erased from history and replaced by a different narrative.
The same has happened to UN Resolution 1325. It was initiated by women from the Global South and Global North as well as women in war zones and it is not, as is often claimed, a victim-oriented agenda. Women peace activists repeatedly stress that they are doing their work for the sake of peace and for both women and men. This perspective differs from that of Western feminist scholars. The lack of documentation of the work and experiences of women peace activists is disempowering in itself. But women peacebuilders don't need empowerment. Afghan women who stood up to the Taliban are incredibly strong and courageous. They have empowered themselves to speak out and stand up. What we as outsiders can do is enable women peacebuilders to have access to information and resources, as well as access to the spaces where decisions about their countries are being made. It's about enabling rather than empowering women peacebuilders.
In 2007, you published your book Women Building Peace; What they do, Why it matters. In summary, why should peacebuilding and women's enablement go hand in hand?
If you look at the traditional peace negotiations, historically it has always been the military and political leaders who sat down together to find a solution. However, if there is a civil war, it will reach into your communities. High-level politics is important, but it is not the social fabric of society. From an International Relations perspective, a stalemate between the parties will inevitably arise at some point during the conflict, when both sides are suffering, either for financial reasons or in terms of the number of deaths. Under these circumstances, peace negotiations would then take place. In many of the wars today, however, the people who orchestrate them have no skin in the game. It's not their children that get killed. It's not their homes that are being destroyed. That is why you need the voice and representation of the communities most affected by the war. And what we have found time and again is that women peacemakers are that voice. They are committed because it is their own families that are most affected, and they are acting with no exit strategy at hand. These people have a space in wanting to bring peace while already promoting it on the ground. Why would we not want them at the negotiating table when we, as international actors, are trying to bring peace to their region?
What skills do young women need to pursue a career in the international field, more precisely, in the peacebuilding sector?
It is important to be aware of history and to build upon the foundations that already exist. Don’t duplicate what already exists. Make sure to develop technical expertise in an issue that matters or that will be of concern in the future. But always bring a gender lens to whatever work you do. Always ask people, especially women, what their motives are, what their fears are. Don’t make assumptions. It is incredibly helpful in terms of having a deeper understanding of the dynamics of a conflict, of who the peace actors are, and what the solutions might be. But at the same time be careful about being labelled as a gender expert. It’s become a way to side-line and marginalise women.
When you’re young, just go for it no matter how crazy the initiative. You will learn a lot. You may stake something in the ground, which will help you with your career as you get older. Be conscious of the fact that there may be a period in life when things feel like they're moving more slowly. I'm in my early fifties now, and when I look back, I'm really glad I had my children and I'm really glad that I carried on my work in its various forms. Find yourself good colleagues and friends and be supportive of each other’s careers. Have fun doing what you do.
In your opinion, what are the greatest challenges for international peacebuilding in the near future?
In the last 20 years, the world has been facing a genuine crisis of global moral leadership. There is a lack of vision of what we believe is the value of an equitable and dignified human life. We have all grown up in an environment where the idea of accumulating wealth is the single greatest sign of success. Whereas in reality, human society has never been just about wealth. It's about your spirit, your soul and creativity and how we care about each other. This recalibration of priorities has to happen.
Despite the failure of multilateral or governmental superstructures in delivering at the local level, we see the emergence of mass social movements demanding change. At a global level, I find it brilliant that in the absence of moral leadership of any of the major powers the Gambia takes Myanmar to the international court of justice on the Rohingya genocide case and wins. This proves that the institutions we've created are essential to multilateralism despite always having been dominated by the big powers. Smaller countries like Switzerland and Norway have always been focused on peace and equality and a different form of engagement with the world. They haven’t lost their credibility. This is their moment to shine and their opportunity to take the lead as the big powers have no credibility anymore
