The world is in crisis. Armed conflicts are escalating. Authoritarian regimes are expanding their grip—sustaining power through fear, division, and militarization. They tighten control through disinformation and fear, stoking insecurity and resentment that turn citizens against one another. In this atmosphere of division, political actors weaponize misogyny, fuel toxic masculinities, ignite new conflicts, and strip women and marginalized communities of their rights.

Around the world, the glorification of violence and the normalization of hate have laid bare just how fragile our democracies have become. Diplomacy, dialogue, and cooperation are giving way to the politics of domination. We witness a profound shift from multilateral cooperation toward coercion and contempt. The space for peace, justice, and truth is shrinking as power without accountability takes hold, eroding democratic institutions, politicizing courts, silencing journalists, and delegitimizing civil society.

And yet around the world, women and communities are resisting – defying displacement, patriarchy, gender apartheid, and militarized violence every day.

• In Gaza, women hold their families and communities together amid relentless destruction, finding ways to deliver aid, care for the injured, and sustain hope in the face of unimaginable loss.
• In Iran, the cry of “Women, Life, Freedom” echoes far beyond its borders, as women persist in their struggle for equality despite imprisonment, torture, censorship, and the threat of execution.
• In the Democratic Republic of Congo, women confront militia violence and sexual terror with extraordinary courage, organizing protection networks and demanding justice where impunity reigns.
• In Afghanistan, where girls and women have been stripped of nearly every right, they find ways to connect, teach, and learn—keeping alive the possibility of a future built on knowledge and solidarity.
• In Ukraine, women document war crimes and press for justice even amid intensifying attacks on cities and civilian targets. Across continents, women are rebuilding shattered societies with vision and perseverance. Their courage shows that another path remains possible.

The evidence is clear: when women are included, peace lasts. Peace agreements are 20% more likely to endure two years and 35% more likely to last fifteen years when women are meaningfully involved. Yet despite the essential roles women play in sustaining communities, resisting tyranny, and rebuilding after conflict, they remain largely excluded from formal peace processes. Three decades after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and twenty-five years since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, women made up only 5% of peace negotiators and 9% of mediators in 2023. Even the United Nations, the world’s foremost symbol of multilateralism, has never been led by a woman. This exclusion is not symbolic—it is structural. Changing it is not only a matter of fairness, but a precondition for peace.

The global authoritarian turn thrives on exclusion. It thrives on disinformation and digital violence—on silencing journalists, intimidating human rights defenders, and flooding public discourse with lies. It thrives on the militarization of budgets, borders, and belief systems. In 2024, global military spending surpassed 2.7 trillion US$ — the steepest increase since the Cold War. Every dollar devoted to weapons is a dollar stolen from education, healthcare, climate resilience, and justice.

We reject the false choice between >>security<< and humanity. True security is not measured by the size of armies but by the well-being of societies and the strength of human rights. Militarization undermines both peace and the planet. Wars poison water, scorch forests, destroy farmland, and scar ecosystems for generations. Militaries account for over 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. There can be no peace on a dying Earth.

What must be done now?

• First, end the profiteering from war. Governments must stop enabling conflicts through arms sales and occupation, and redirect resources toward peacebuilding and humanitarian recovery.
• Second, confront the weaponization of truth. Protect journalists, human-rights defenders, and women peacebuilders; regulate digital platforms that amplify hate and disinformation; and ensure that freedom of expression is safeguarded for all.
• Third, fulfill commitments to women’s participation and leadership. Fund women-led civil society, protect those on the frontlines, and finally implement the Women, Peace, and Security agenda in full.
• Finally, demilitarize and defend our planet. Reduce global military spending and allocate at least ten percent of military budgets by 2030 to peace, diplomacy, and climate action (see »10% for all«-Campaign). Include environmental accountability in all peace processes, and recognize that the survival of Earth and the survival of humanity are inseparable.

As Nobel Peace Prize Laureates united through the Nobel Women’s Initiative, we raise our voices with urgency and hope—grounded in solidarity, justice, and the belief that peace is not an abstract ideal but a daily act of courage. We reject the idea that war can ever bring peace. We reject the hypocrisy that dresses militarism in the language of democracy.

The world we envision is one where the leadership of women guides nations away from tyranny and toward renewal; where truth is defended as fiercely as territory; where the Earth itself is treated as sacred, not expendable. This future is not impossible. It is already being built, quietly and fiercely, wherever women refuse to surrender to war. Our task—as citizens, as movements, as governments—is to listen, to join, and to act. For peace that excludes no one, and justice that endures for all.