I believe that there is an urgent need to restructure the discussion of war to include the impact it has on women.

Only 8 percent of peace talks have included women at any level.

From an economic perspective, women are treated unfairly: they perform 66 percent of the world's work and produce 50 percent of the food but they only earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property.

I believe that there is an urgent need to restructure the discussion of war to include the impact it has on women.

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.

No change can come if those who are impacted the most by discrimination are not willing to stand up for themselves.

It appears easier to talk about protecting women than it is to fully include women at all decision-making levels in peace talks and post-conflict planning.