Kurdish women are famous around the world for fighting on the frontlines against religious fundamentalists and authoritarian regimes. Less known, but equally important, is the role that they have played in diplomatic efforts to sustainably end conflicts, promote Kurdish self-determination, and, all the while, ensure that the unique needs and perspectives of women are not forgotten.

On the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, 24 June at 5pm (Central Europe time), the Kurdish Peace Institute will host a webinar with Eda Duzgun, co-chair of the DEM Party in Europe, Sinam Sherkany Mohamad, head of the Syrian Democratic Council in the US, and Treefa Aziz, Kurdistan Regional Government representative in the US. The webinar will be an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the experiences of women in Kurdish diplomacy and understand how the international community can learn from and support them. 

Presenting the webinar, the Kurdish Peace Institute wrote: "When Kurdish women get to the negotiating table, they’ve come a long way. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, women made up just 13 percent of negotiators, six percent of mediators, and six percent of signatories in all major peace processes from 1992-2019. Countless agreements impacting Kurdistan and the Kurdish people have been made without meaningful Kurdish input, from the division of the region into the modern states of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria in the early 20th century to the infamous Trump-Erdogan phone call preceding Turkey's invasion of northern Syria in October 2019.

Statistics show that peace agreements are more likely to fail if women and women’s movements are not involved. Regional history makes it clear that the exclusion of Kurdish perspectives from international agreements on the Middle East has led to tremendous conflict and suffering. This provides observers with an important lesson: listening to and including Kurdish women is a fundamental prerequisite for peace."