Welcome!
Women in the DR Congo celebrating the Goma peace agreement (Marie Frechon / UN Photo)
Protest against violence in Liberia
(Christopher Herwig / UN Photos)
Female UN soldier in mission in the DR Congo
(Marie Frechon / UN Photos)
International Women´s Day in Cote d´Ivoire
(Ky Chung / UN Photos)
Woman in Timor Leste
(Martine Perret / UN Photos)
Female refugees in Darfur
(Albert Gonzalez Farran / UN Photo)
Women in Burundi
(Martine Perret / UN Photos)
Girls in Sudan
(Fred Noy / UN Photos)
Women in Timor Leste collecting garbage
(Martine Perret / UN Photos)
Girl in Timor-Leste.
Credit: Martine Perre/UN Photo
There is bad news every day: wars, disasters, violence, poverty and misery on a global scale. We would like to counteract these depressing facts with some hopeful information in the form of Visionews. We want to break with the mainstream thinking of journalists: “Only bad news are good news”.
Visionews publishes articles from about 30 countries, telling successful stories of peace, reconciliation, care of the environment, food sovereignity, and prevention of wars. It publishes also inspiring visions of peace from all over the world, providing encouraging examples of achievements. For this we have got the Alternative Media Award on May 4, 2012, in Nuremberg.
Visionews is also a worldwide database of good practices of the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 (“Women, Peace, and Security”) and can be used by non-governmental organisations, women’s peace groups and all those interested.
Visionews is also a global media cooperation project with Inter Press Service Germany, 1000 Peacewomen Across the Globe and the German Women´s Security Council. Almost all of the texts on good practices and visions were written by professional journalists. The project has been made possible by the generous support of filia – the women’s foundation, Stiftung Apfelbaum and Stiftung Umverteilen.
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The main motivation to start this global media project was the tenth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on 31 October 2010. For thousands of peace women and female grassroots activists, the most important aspect of this resolution is that the Security Council recognises in an internationally legally binding way the right of women to participate in peace processes. As agents of change, women must be equally included in peace processes, empowered and supported (see also our Analysis).
Resolution 1325 is not about political correctness, nor is does it imply that women are better human beings than men are – they are not! However, as a large number of academic studies has proved, the inclusion of women in conflict resolution is extremely effective and beneficial to EVERYONE. Because of their social roles, women have a greater distance to war, arms, the military and violence, which can be of use to society as a whole. All over the world, women have worked and continue to work together beyond the ethnic or religious lines during and after conflicts in order to achieve a sustainable and just peace.
The implementation of Resolution 1325 by the UN and its member states has been extremely limited so far (please see our summary of the results). However, there are successful models in some countries, which show exemplary ways how brave peace women have stopped wars or sustainably shaped peace processes.
Inspiring texts can be found in the section on visions. These show what a peaceful and gender just world could look like, which is why we have called them Visionews. However, we have not forgotten that the current situation in the world is very depressing. Funding that is urgently needed to fight poverty and for the environment, health and education is still being wasted on wars and new weapons. A few powerful men make vital decisions on war and peace, from which women are still systematically excluded. You will find facts and analysis on this matter in the background section.