Only 1 in 13 participants in peace negotiations since 1992 has been a woman.

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.

Without women's full inclusion at the decision making table, we cannot have any healthy decision making that is good for men and women alike.

I firmly believe today that the only way to stop violence against women is to speak out and refused to be silenced.

One year of the world’s military spending equals 700 years of the U.N. budget and equals 2,928 years of the U.N. budget allocated for women.

It seems to me that violence against women has been tolerated for so long that the world has become numb to it.

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