Kroc IPJ Welcomes the Twentieth Year of Women PeaceMakers

The Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ) at the University of San Diego’s Kroc School of Peace Studies is proud to welcome a new cohort of the Women PeaceMakers Fellowship. Celebrating 20 years, this 10-month fellowship brings Fellows from around the world to work together to discuss challenges in peacebuilding, share good practices, and conduct research. Each year, the Women PeaceMakers work collaboratively, bringing expertise from their own contexts, to advance the field of peacebuilding globally.

The 2021-2022 cohort of Fellows will focus their work on creating meaningful relationships between peacemakers of different generations to advance the field of peacebuilding. In order to better understand how to build powerful intergenerational partnerships, the cohort of Women PeaceMakers comprises three senior peacemakers, each bringing between 16 and 25 years of experience, and three emerging peacemakers, each bringing between five and nine years of experience. The Fellows will work together to advance innovative thinking within the Women, Peace and Security space. 

This cohort of incredible Women PeaceMakers includes two women from Afghanistan and women from Botswana, Burma, Egypt, and Morocco, each working to advance peace. 

EMERGING PEACEMAKERS 

• Ramatoulie Isatou Jallow (Botswana): focuses on conflict prevention in Africa and is the founder of the peacebuilding initiative “Peace by Peace.” 
• Heela Yoon (Afghanistan): founder and CEO of Afghan Youth Ambassadors for Peace(AYAPO); focuses on youth empowerment and is a research consultant with Amnesty International.
• Youssra Biare (Morocco): a UN-certified mediator with a focus on peacebuilding and women-related issues and has worked with Mercy Corps and MEPI.

SENIOR PEACEMAKERS

• May-Oo Mutraw (Burma): served as the first Women’s Affairs Coordinator of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma in New York and a technical advisor to the Women’s League of Burma (WLB).
• Zarqa Yaftali (Afghanistan): living and working in Afghanistan; was awarded the N-Peace Award in 2019 and serves as the co-chair of the Women, Peace and Security working group facilitated by UN Women in Afghanistan.
• Nermine Mounir (Egypt): actress, educator, and peacebuilder from Cairo who has worked with refugees and at-risk youth. 

The Women PeaceMakers program looks forward to an exciting 20th year with a cohort of six incredible Fellows. The University of San Diego community will benefit from opportunities to engage with the PeaceMakers, and the collaboration between the Fellows will facilitate findings and recommendations to advance ending and preventing violence and building more peaceful communities. Learn more about the Women PeaceMaker program here, follow @WomenPeaceMaker on Twitter, and stay tuned for ways to engage with the Women Peacemakers!