Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbiis an author, women's rights activist, humanitarian, social entrepreneur, and media commentator who is the founder and former CEOof Washington-based Women for Women International...
NationalityIraqi
ProfessionActivist
CountryIraq
country children war
War is not a computer-generated missile striking a digital map. War is the color of earth as it explodes in our faces, the sound of child pleading, the smell of smoke and fear. Women survivors of war are not the single image portrayed on the television screen, but the glue that holds families and countries together. Perhaps by understanding women, and the other side of war ... we will have more humility in our discussions of wars... perhaps it is time to listen to womens side of history.
alliances lines firsts
Like life, peace begins with women. We are the first to forge lines of alliance and collaboration across conflict divides.
stronger nations
Stronger women build stronger nations.
nice painful clean
Where has change ever been clean and nice? It has always been messy and painful.
country troops
Women are part of peace keeping troops in countries like Liberia.
discrimination willing ifs
No change can come if those who are impacted the most by discrimination are not willing to stand up for themselves.
development faces violence
Unfortunately, violence against women is not the only injustice women face globally; it is one of the many inequalities that impede the full development of socially excluded women globally.
violence target injustice
The injustice is that women continue to be the main target of violence both during wartime and peacetime and yet there is still a lack of a public outrage.
country growing-up everyday
Growing up under Saddam's rule, I witnessed many injustices occurring everyday in my country and yet I could not do anything to prevent them.
losing-a-loved-one people historical
I learned that victims come in all image - some raped, some witnessing an act of violence, some losing loved ones. I learned that the solutions come by both listening to the people impacted by the crisis and by learning from historical experiences in other places.
chiefs
Women have never been a chief negotiator in any UN-sponsored talks.
levels peace-talks percent
Only 8 percent of peace talks have included women at any level.
country war order
Working with women survivors of war has taught me that we need to listen to women's perspectives on war in order to understand how to effectively rebuild a country, a community and a family.
skills faces violence
From joblessness to lack of education and professional skills to sexual and gender-based violence, women face a multi-faceted oppression.