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.

From joblessness to lack of education and professional skills to sexual and gender-based violence, women face a multi-faceted oppression.

I believe that a lot of progress has been achieved to address gender inequality: We have moved from a time where women in the US could not apply for credit card without their husband's signature to a time where women are the owners of their businesses.

When war ends, women are the first to pick up the pieces. Where there is no market place, they go door to door. When homes are destroyed, mothers and daughters haul stones to rebuild or plow fields together.

I dont want to be someone in my sixties holding on to a group that I created when I was in my twenties.

Long-term trauma for women who have survived armed conflict is a haunting reminder that health issues and depression can follow decades after the end of war, but women who hope for healing can and do move forward.

As women, we must speak out, speak up, say no to our inheritance of loss and yes to a future of women-led dialogue about women's rights and value.