The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security launches Seeking Peace, a new podcast featuring some of the world’s most influential leaders and celebrity activists as they explore the role of women in preventing conflict and achieving sustainable peace.
Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) today launched Seeking Peace, a new podcast featuring some of the world’s most influential leaders and celebrity activists as they explore the role of women in preventing conflict and achieving sustainable peace.
Melanne Verveer, executive director of GIWPS and former U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, says the podcast – the first of its kind dedicated to the intersection of gender, conflict and peace – shows women are not just victims of conflict, but leaders and unsung heroes who help bring peace to their countries.
“Women who are making a difference in international security deserve a larger audience,” says Verveer. “We hope hearing their voices through this podcastwill inspire, inform and involve listeners to take greater steps for peace.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Verveer sits down with actress and advocate Kristen Bell and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the first episodes, which are available on iTunes/Apple Podcast App, Stitcher, Spotify and Google Play.
Bell, star of The Good Place TV series and Disney’s Frozen, supports women working to end conflict, rebuild communities and advance gender equality as the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund Global Advocate.
“It’s unacceptable,” Bell says in Episode 1 of the podcast. “Less than 1 percent of international aid to countries in crisis is given to women’s organizations, even though research shows women are key to peace and recovery.”
In Episode 2, Clinton tells listeners why women’s rights have to be a central part of American foreign policy. She takes a trip down memory lane with Verveer, a friend who also served as her chief of staff, and relives her famous speech that culminated with “women’s rights are human rights.”
Margaux Benn traveled to Afghanistan to report on the country’s very first all-female demining squad. She shares the story in Episode 2 of the new Seeking Peace podcast.
Each episode will include narrative-driven field stories – produced by radio journalists – highlighting women’s experiences on the frontlines in Afghanistan, Colombia, Ukraine, Yemen, Kosovo, Mexico and a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.
“They were surprised that a woman wanted to do such a dangerous job that is normally reserved for men,”says one of the Afghan women defying stereotypes in Episode 2.
Seeking Peace’s first season is funded by the Compton Foundation and reported and produced by an all-women team.