Women Who Lead Peace: UN Honors Their Stories in Striking New Photo Exhibit
The United Nations will present an incredible new photo show at the Photoville Festival in New York in June, drawing attention to the bravery, leadership, and influence of women and their supporters promoting peace in some of the most unstable regions on earth. The exhibition highlights women peacebuilders, human rights defenders, UN peacekeepers, and grassroots activists whose experiences are too frequently ignored, and it features unique photographs taken by local women photographers. Both the difficulties of conflict and the opportunities that arise when women take the lead are depicted in their environments and images.
The exhibit, which was launched in honour of the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), focuses on the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, which acknowledges not only the disproportionate harm that conflict causes to women but also their critical role in fostering peace, fostering trust, and bringing about revolutionary change.
“The fight for gender equality is not just about fairness,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in his remarks at the 2025 International Women’s Day commemoration in New York. “It is about power – who gets a seat at the table, and who is locked out. Simply put, when women and girls rise, everyone thrives.”
Captured across eleven settings – Abyei, Cyprus, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mozambique, Occupied Palestinian Territory, South Sudan and Sudan – the images tell a collective story of resilience, resistance, and transformation.
“Too often, the role of women in peace processes and trust building is overlooked or underrepresented,” said Laura Hasani, a photojournalist from Kosovo with over 25 years’ experience. “These photos aim to change that, so the world sees and hears from the women who are rebuilding communities and leading change.”
In Haiti, Clyfane Saintil, a feminist activist and nonprofit leader featured in the exhibit, helps Haitian girls and women build confidence to claim their rights and shape their futures. “Change begins in our communities, where women and girls rise, and when men choose to be allies rather than obstacles,” she said.
Through the lens of those living the realities of conflict, the exhibition reframes how we see women: not only as victims, but as architects of peace and justice. It also calls on governments, international organisations, and communities to recommit to the promise of the WPS agenda, which remains as urgent today as it was 25 years ago.
Through Her Lens: Women Rising for Peace is a collaboration between the United Nations Department of Peace Operations and Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, UN Women, and the Elsie Initiative Fund. Premiering in Brooklyn Bridge Park on 7 June 2025, it will remain open to the public until 22 June, then travel to some of the countries featured before reaching the European Parliament in Brussels and, in October, UN Headquarters in New York, among others.
The exhibition is supported by the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, whose generous contributions made it possible to share these powerful stories worldwide.
The exhibition is free to view from June 7-22, 2025, at the Photoville Festival, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1, New York City.
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