My presentation last week at the conference organized by the University of Florence for November 25th began with a fact we cannot ignore: in 2025, 676 million women will live within 50 km of an armed conflict. This is the highest number ever recorded by the United Nations.
A world in which women are among the most exposed and, at the same time, systematically excluded from the decision-making processes where peace is built.
I wanted to expose an often-removed truth: vulnerability and leadership are not contradictory.
Women suffer disproportionately from war, but when they are involved in prevention, negotiations, and reconstruction, agreements last longer, communities heal better, and peace becomes more stable.
From UN Resolution 1325 of 2000 to the most recent data, it is clear that:
- sexual violence in conflict has increased by 87% in recent years;
- in contexts like Gaza, Sudan, and Afghanistan, women are experiencing extreme crisis;
- in international negotiations, women remain less than 7% of negotiators.
Yet, precisely in these devastated places, women hold together what war separates: care networks, essential services, and community resilience.
The transition from vulnerability to leadership requires three strategic levers:
– social and infrastructural reconstruction with women’s participation;
– political representation and presence at negotiating tables: without women, peace is incomplete;
– economic leadership, because financial autonomy is the foundation of freedom and power.
The final message is simple and non-negotiable: it’s not enough to protect women; we must include them as protagonists.
There is no lasting peace without their vision, their experience, and their leadership.
Vulnerability is not destiny: it is a condition that can be transformed if women are finally recognized as builders of the future.
