Women's Initiative

To create a world where all people and the planet are safe and free from nuclear threats, it’s imperative we harness the insight and experience the entire security ﬁeld has to offer by working toward greater inclusivity and representation.

Historically, the security sector has devalued the perspectives of women and other marginalized communities' populations. We need more women in the ﬁeld. And when women do make it into the room, we must keep their contributions and insights—which may challenge the status quo of a system that overvalues force and threats over diplomacy and cooperation—from being discounted or ignored all together. By inviting and positioning women ﬁrmly at the peace and security table, Ploughshares Fund aims to invest in, amplify, and expand the range of perspectives addressing our world’s greatest nuclear challenges—and, as a result, expand the variety of solutions and ideas available to us.

Learn about the Ploughshares Fund Women's Initiative $1 Million Campaign

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Latest News and Analysis on the Ploughshares Fund Women's Initiative

Seven Questions for Beatrice Fihn

Beatrice Fihn is the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. She accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and delivered the Nobel Lecture in Oslo on...

May 7, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Seven Questions for Marissa Conway

Marissa Conway is the Co-Founder and UK Director of Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. She previously worked with Freedom House, a safe house for survivors of human trafficking and Living Water, a clean water charity. She is also a freelance writer and publishes pieces on feminist foreign...

May 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Seven Questions for Christine Ahn

Christine Ahn is founder and International Coordinator of Ploughshares Fund grantee and partner, Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing to end the Korean War, reunite families, and ensure women’s leadership in peace building. She is the co-founder of the Korea Policy Institute...

April 22, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Seven Questions for Cecili Thompson Williams

Cecili Thompson Williams is the Director of Ploughshares Fund grantee and partner, Beyond the Bomb, where she leads a team of campaigners and activists mobilizing against the threat of nuclear war and weapons. She has nearly two decades of experience leading mission-driven campaigns with...

April 22, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Nuclear Weapons and the Green New Deal

At its core, ours is an existential fight. Our work to prevent nuclear war is driven by an understanding that humanity has the capacity to destroy itself and we can’t leave prevention to chance.The Doomsday Clock is currently set at two minutes to midnight — the closest to a nuclear apocalypse...

April 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Time to Ban the Bomb

Of late, the world has been reminded that the threat posed by nuclear weapons is severe and worsening. The United States has signaled that it will withdraw from one of the most important Cold War arms control agreements — the 1987 Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) — which...

April 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Gender Champions

The Women’s March, Jan. 21, 2017, the largest single-day protest in US history, drew millions of people to the streets to advocate for women’s rights, reproductive rights and other important social issues and has inspired a heightened level of activism for gender equality that continues to...

April 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Diversity Makes Better Policy

At a time when our global challenges are more complex than ever, it is particularly unfortunate that the decisionmaking levers of foreign and security policy do not reflect the rich diversity of cultures and perspectives that make up the United States. US foreign and security policy is...

April 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
A Nuclear Policy for All

The legitimacy of American democracy is rooted in political participation. Since the end of World War II, however, participation in national security policymaking by citizens, and even by most elected representatives, is no longer considered legitimate. This is especially true for decisions...

April 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
Perpetual War

Last year marked a new, tragic milestone in the war on Afghanistan. Now, children born after Sept. 11, 2001 — young people with no memory of how America's longest war began — are old enough to enlist in it. Seventeen years is a long time. I know that, because 17 years ago I was the only member...

April 3, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund