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

I find it amazing that the only group of people who are not fighting and not killing and not pillaging and not burning and not raping, and the group of people who are mostly — though not exclusively — who are keeping life going in the midst of war, are not included in the negotiating table.

Since a very young age, my mother made sure to tell me about the plight of women... As she raised my awareness about women's issues, she also made sure to ingrain in me the importance of being strong and independent and not to let anybody define me by their images of what women should be.

I have come to understand that in order to effectively advance women's rights, we need to galvanize a global women's movement.

Women have never been a chief negotiator in any UN-sponsored talks.

Sometimes you just have to jump off the cliff without knowing where you will land.

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.