Turning personal stories into collective impact.
Join us.
The Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics & Human Rights
The Oxford Initiative brings together colleagues across academia, policy, and activism to explore global ethics and human rights, with a particular focus on women’s voices. The cornerstone of the Initiative is the Global Women's Narratives Project (GWNP), a worldwide collaboration of university and nonprofit partners dedicated to collecting, curating, and analyzing women’s stories to inform policy, assist advocacy, and promote healing. The War & Peace Workshop Series hosts short, intensive courses held at the University of Oxford that examine pressing issues in peacemaking, trauma sensitivity, women’s leadership, global health, human security, and conflict journalism.
War & Peace Symposia 2026
Critical Deliberations on Peacebuilding, Memory, & Narrative Ethics
SPRING SESSION: 29 Mar - 5 April Oxford & Belfast
FALL SESSION: 13 - 20 September Oxford & Belfast
Global Women’s Narratives Project
We believe in the power of storytelling.
Women's lived experiences remain significantly underrepresented in both policy development and research. This persistent gap in understanding creates serious blind spots in decision-making systems and policy agendas, including human rights mechanisms that fail to account for women’s realities. The consequences are far-reaching, undermining physical and mental health, security, and economic opportunity for half the global population. Our work directly addresses this gap by amplifying women’s narratives and generating evidence-based insights to inform policy, strengthen accountability, and advance women’s wellbeing and dignity.
GWNP, UNESCO, and the Institute of Social Ethics, University of Lucerne, partnered on a short film for Geneva Peace Week. GWNP’s Thembela Lubimbi participated from Zimbabwe. Dr. Evelyne Tauchnitz, GWNP Advisory Board member, Oxford Global PeaceTech Project, and UNESCO’s Vincent Defourny and Edouard Joubeaud.
Announcements
-
BROOKE BACIGAL TO BEIJING
Brooke Bacigal, manager of our editing teams at Oxford this past year, is heading on to complete a Masters degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing as a Schwarzman Scholar. Brooke has volunteered with GWNP since 2019 and has been an integral part of our work through her time at Oxford. Thank you, Brooke. Love and best wishes.
-
NEW THEME: WOMEN IN POLITICS
To grasp the scope and depth of women's political engagement, it's essential to adopt a view that encompasses not only traditional political activities but also the challenges to authority through civil society initiatives, women's organizations, and mobilization for political objectives. The sacrifices and challenges faced by these women remain largely untold. See Ghana info.
-
KAROSANIDZE JOINS ADVISORY BOARD
Tamar Karosanidze joins our Advisory Board and hosts a project visit to Tbilisi, Georgia. Formerly Deputy Minister of Defence of Georgia, she is a Chief of Party (CoP) at the USAID-funded civil society support project Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) project. Welcome.
-
TAFADAR LAUNCHES HR ORG FOR GIRLS
Advisory Board member Sultana Tafada launched an international organisation to inform and empower girls across the world on their rights. Tafada is a criminal barrister in the UK and was appointed King’s Counsel last year. GWNP founder Dr Boyd-Judson serves on the advisory board of Girls Human Rights Hub.
-
![]()
Athens, Greece
GWNP DELEGATES AT REFUGEE CENTER
Field interviews in Greece led by Ms. Manas Ghanem, UNHCR Protection Consultant, Fellow, Oxford Center for Resolution of Intractable Conflict.
-
![]()
Oxford, August 2022
MAUREEN SHONGE
Ms. Shonge, Oxford IHRL, leads session on Preventing Violence against Women in Elections and Implications for Peace in East and Southern Africa.
-
![]()
Oxford, September 2024
ANNE CARR
Anne Carr from Belfast, Northern Ireland, leads a session on women and peacebuilding groups in Northern Ireland, Israel, and Palestine.
