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

A woman in Cameroun dressed with flower patterned clothes standing in front of a building with straw roof.

UNDP Cameroon Arielle Bastien

To mark the 25 years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), the Swedish government agency for peace, security, and development, are organizing a multimedia exhibition titled HE[R]EAL – Her Reality: Reclaiming DDR Through Women’s Eyes.

The two-day event will take place at Scandinavia House, New York, from 28 to 29 October 2025, as part of the 2025 Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Symposium.

DDR processes, as defined by the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS), help societies move from war to peace. However, women remain underrepresented in these processes, where gendered biases often lead to their marginalization, unmet needs, and continued stigmatization. As the UN Secretary-General warns, the promise of UN Security Council resolution 1325 is still far from fulfilled.

At this critical juncture, HE[R]EAL seeks to challenge the status quo: to show what too often remains unseen, to break down prejudice, and to highlight the diverse and inspiring realities of women combatants.

“HE[R]EAL is both a reflection and a call to action”, said Glaucia Boyer, Global Advisor on Stabilization and Reintegration. “It reminds us that peace is not achievable until women’s voices and experiences are heard.”

The exhibition will be open to the public on Wednesday, 29 October, from 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Scandinavia House.

Visitors are warmly invited to speak with the artist, Arielle Bastien, and the UNDP and FBA team at the event and explore the stories of women whose resilience continues to redefine what peace looks like.

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