statements - International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini’s Remarks at the UN’s 2020 Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Lauren Mellows

“Stop the rhetoric on promising rights, development and gender equality, and deliver on that promise. If your promises stay empty, you lose the trust of the people,” warned ICAN’s Founder and CEO, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, during a high level session of the UN’s 7th Biannual Review of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.

Ms. Anderlini spoke alongside Professor Ni Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN’s Special Rapporteur Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, Switzerland’s Permanent Representative to the UN and Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the UN in a session on “Protecting and promoting Human Rights as a cornerstone of building resilience against terrorism”.

Read Ms. Anderlini’s full speech.

Mitigating Domestic Violence During COVID-19

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Lauren Mellows

Called the “shadow pandemic”, domestic violence has surged since the emergence of COVID-19. Globally, reports indicate a 25-33% increase in domestic violence with civil society and governments trying to address the crisis.
ICAN, after consultation with partners in the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) across 38 countries and a review of existing literature, offers key steps to governments and the international community for new initiatives and urgently needed reforms that can prevent and reduce domestic violence immediately and sustainably.

ICAN’s Statement on our Gender- and Conflict-Sensitive Response to COVID-19

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Lauren Mellows

As we watch our own leaders react, we at ICAN are reminded and humbled by the strength and dignity of our partners in the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL). For years they have faced the threat of war and militarism, of displacement and life-threatening diseases, and at each turn, they have stepped up to the plate to be the first responders in their communities. To support them, we are adapting our activities to respond to the current crisis, while retaining our focus on inclusive peacebuilding and prevention of violent extremism.
Please read the statement to know how ICAN is responding to COVID-19.

WHRDIC’s statement on the detention of Ebtisam Al-Saegh in Bahrain

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Lauren Mellows

Bahrain: Free Woman Human Rights Defender Ebtisam Al-Saegh The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition calls for the immediate and unconditional release of human rights defender Ebtisam Al-Saegh, and for an end to the harassment, intimidation, and threats she has been subjected to. We express deep concern for Ebtisam Al-Saegh’s safety and wellbeing, and about […]

WHRDIC Releases Statement about WHRDs in Turkey

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Lauren Mellows

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC) released a statement expressing its solidarity with Kurdish women human rights defenders

“Pluralism in the Age of Extremism” by Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Lauren Mellows

Pluralism in the Age of Extremism: Opening remarks at the Norway/WASL Launch of the Global Solutions Exchange; UNGA Sept 20

What the Women Say: Militarism & Extremism in the MENA/Asia Region

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Lauren Mellows

“Challenging Extremism and Militarism: Women Standing up for Rights, Peace and Plurality” — What the Women Say in the MENA/Asia Region — March, 2015 2014 was a difficult year in the MENA/Asia region. While international policy and media attention gravitated towards the horrors of ISIS/Daesh and other extremist groups, ordinary citizens from Tripoli to Gaza […]

Woman Human Rights Defender Shaimaa ElSabbagh Killed in Egypt

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Lauren Mellows

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the January 25th Revolution, woman human rights defender (WHRD) Ms. Shaimaa Sabry Ahmed El Sabbagh, was killed in downtown Cairo while she was participating in a peaceful protest to commemorate the martyrs of the January 25th revolution. Read the full statement from Nazra for Feminist Studies: Urgent […]

العالم يقف أمام مفترق طرق والنساء يملكن الحل

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Lauren Mellows

اجتمنا هنا، ستون امرأة ممثلات لثلاثة عشر دولة من الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا وآسيا، ومعنا زميلاتنا من أوروبا وأمريكا الشمالية في تركيا لحضور المنتدى السنوي الثالث حول “حقوق المرأة والأمن والسلام” الذي تعقده الشبكة الدولية لعمل المجتمع المدني (أيكان). لدينا كلمة واحدة نوجهها للعالم: كفى. كفى عنفًا، كفى تصديرايديولوجيات عنيفة ليس لها جذور في ثقافاتنا […]

The World at a Crossroads: Women Have the Solutions

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Lauren Mellows

PRESS RELEASE November 11, 2014 We, sixty women representing thirteen countries spanning the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, together with our colleagues from Europe and North America, gathered together in Turkey at the Third Annual Forum on Women’s Rights, Peace and Security, convened by the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), have one word to […]

Over 350 Global Organizations Call for Immediate Release of Seven Imprisoned Women Human Rights Defenders in Egypt

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Lauren Mellows

In the lead up to the October 11th trial of seven Egyptian women human rights defenders (WHRDs), who have been detained since June 21, 2014 on charges of violating Egypt’s strict Protest and Public Assembly Law, over 220 women’s and human rights organizations representing nearly 70 countries issued a statement demanding their immediate release. The […]