Nordic Women Mediators

Members of the Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Icelandic networks for women peace mediators together make up a Nordic network.

First network meeting, Oslo, November 2015 (Photo: Julie Lunde Lillesæter/Differ Media)

Elisabeth Rehn at the launch of the Nordic network in Oslo, November 2015 (Photo: Julie Lunde Lillesæter/Differ Media)

International launch of the Nordic Women Mediators in New York, May 2016 (Photo: Klara Grenhagen/FBA)

Since 2015, FBA coordinates the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network, in close collaboration with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Swedish network is part of the Nordic Women Mediators (NWM), a network of women from the Nordic countries with professional experience in peace mediation, peacebuilding and international diplomacy.

Inspired by a similar initiative in southern Africa, the Nordic governments endorsed the creation of the network at a meeting in April 2015. The NWM was officially launched in Oslo on 27 November 2015, followed by an international launch in March 2016 at the UN in New York.

Objectives of the Nordic Women Mediators

Increase the number of Nordic women that are actively involved in international peace-making efforts.
Support non-Nordic women mediators.
Engage with similar initiatives in other countries, regions or internationally.

The NWM also aims to make women’s competence in this area more visible, to counter arguments about the shortage or low availability of women with mediation expertise.

Click here for more information about the NWM.

Structure of the network

The NWM consists of national women mediator networks from the Nordic countries operating under one umbrella.

The network is comprised of a contact group representing participating Nordic ministries, and an operational group, representing the Nordic Ministries’ operational partners that coordinate the various national networks.

The operational group is responsible for arranging yearly meetings for the members of NWM.

For more information on the network, please contact one of the following operational partners:

Denmark: Danish Refugee Council (DRC) at University of Copenhagen
Finland: Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)
Iceland: United Nations University Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (UNU-GEST)
Norway: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF)
Sweden: Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA)

Follow the network in social media under the hashtag #WomenMediators.

Click here to read more about the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network.

Scholarship Opportunity for Young Leaders in Women, Peace and Security in DRC and Afghanistan

Are you a young peacebuilder at the beginning of your career with a strong commitment to women, peace and security? Do you have experience working in this field in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Afghanistan and want to take your commitment to the next level? Then you have the opportunity to apply for the 1325 scholarship for 2026.

2025-11-06 15:30

Read our publications

The Gender-Responsive Leader's Handbook

Gender equality is both a goal and a prerequisite for sustainable peace and development. FBA’s Gender-Responsive Leadership (GRL) Initiative is designed to support leaders and managers within organizations such as the EU, UN, ECOWAS, OSCE and the African Union to fulfill their central role in enabling gender equal peace, security and development work.

Documents

More Publications

On international deployment

Teresa Wiklund

Monitor at EUMM in Georgia

Kajsa Norman

Election observer

Catalina Perdomo Rodriguez

Adviser to the UN in Colombia

Karolina Riedel

Statistician in election observation missions

Björn Tedeman

Election observer

THE FBA BLOG

>

Posted by Marie Blomdahl
A safe online space to share experiences to support leadership in the UN

>

When I joined the Leadership and Cooperation Unit at the Folke Bernadotte Academy in August 2018, after working many years mainly in the private sector, I had a feeling that this job really would offer me an opportunity to use my skills and experiences to make a difference, and at the same time grow as a professional. FBA was at the time already working actively with leadership development support for leaders in key functions within the ... Read entire post »
2021-06-03 10:54
>

Posted by Rhodri Williams
Civil Society as a Critical Partner: Rule of Law and Accountability in the Liberian COVID-19 Response, Part II

>

Part One of this post highlighted the importance of the rule of law in supporting crisis response in countries struggling with the effects of conflict. One of the most important rule of law principles in such settings is accountability, particularly “downward accountability”, in which state authorities focus on serving citizens dependent on them.

Corruption and poor governance can lead to excessive upward accountability directed toward political superiors, leaving a gap between the state and ordinary citizens. Civil ... Read entire post »

The post Civil Society as a Critical Partner: Rule of Law and Accountability in the Liberian COVID-19 Response, Part II first appeared on FBA-bloggen.
2021-02-15 13:43
>

Posted by Kristin Valasek
Time for a joint vision on gender-responsive leadership

>

Right before the winter break, 236 women and men from 105 different organizations and 46 countries around the world joined our International Dialogue on Gender-Responsive Leadership, to discuss an absolutely critical and often missing part of the gender equality puzzle: gender-responsive leadership.

After twenty years of struggling to achieve the commitments of the global women, peace and security agenda, we at the FBA have learned that executives and managers are essential to success. Not just as supporters, ... Read entire post »

The post Time for a joint vision on gender-responsive leadership first appeared on FBA-bloggen.
2021-02-10 16:09

Navigate to FBA Blog

Nordic Women Mediators

Objectives of the Nordic Women Mediators

Structure of the network

Scholarship Opportunity for Young Leaders in Women, Peace and Security in DRC and Afghanistan

Latest news

HE[R]EAL – Her Reality: Reclaiming DDR Through Women’s Eyes

How can we prevent genocide? FBA and ISCI gather researchers and experts for this Autumn’s most important conversation

New report: Ukrainians’ perceptions of security during the war

Read our publications

The Gender-Responsive Leader's Handbook