In February 2020, Women In International Security (WIIS) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC launched an international essay competition—1325AndBeyond—to mark the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325).
WIIS and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC are proud to announce and publish the winning essays. WIIS President Chantal de Jonge Oudraat commented on the great number and high caliber of submissions from around the world, and stated that “this made the selection process extremely competitive.” “It led us to award two second prizes; two third prizes and six honorable mentions.” She noted that “the essays highlight innovative and imaginative ideas as well as concrete strategies to achieve the objectives of UNSCR 1325 and the WPS agenda in the 2020s.” Bastian Hermisson, Head of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC remarked that “at a time when the world, women’s rights, societies and nations are facing unprecedented multiple intersecting challenges to human security and lasting peace, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC has been honored to support this international essay competition stimulating innovative and courageous thinking by young intellectual leaders on how to make the WPS agenda more effective and successful over the next decade.” He added, “we’ve been excited and pleased to see the great variety of perspectives, calls for a more comprehensive WPS agenda and implementable solutions coming from different parts of the world.” de Jonge Oudraat and Hermisson expressed the hope that international organizations and national governments would take the recommendations of the essay writers to heart.
The winning essays will be made available on the WIIS and HBS websites over the course of one week starting June 30. For more information contact [email protected].
Contest Winners

Ana Laura Velasco Ugalde
UNSCR 1325 and the WPS agenda: A Feminist Response to Authoritarianism

First Place Winner
UNSCR 1325 and the WPS agenda: A Feminist Response to Authoritarianism
Ana Laura Velasco Ugalde (Mexico) is a feminist security analyst and journalist currently studying for a Masters in Gender, Violence and Conflict at the University of Sussex. She also has worked as a researcher for a Mexican NGO focused on security, justice and the rule of law and has previously worked for the Mexican Secretariat of Economy with a posting in Germany. She holds a MA in International Law by the Universidad de Granada and did her undergraduate studies at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.

Agathe Christien
Enhancing WPS in the 2020s: Lessons Learned and Strategies for Transformative Change

Second Place Winner
Enhancing WPS in the 2020s: Lessons Learned and Strategies for Transformative Change
Agathe Christien (France) is the 2019-2020 Hillary Rodham Clinton Research Fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She previously worked with the Livelihoods Innovation through Food Entrepreneurship (LIFE) Project, a food business incubator program for refugees and host communities in Turkey. She graduated in 2018 with an M.A in Arab studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a degree in Political Science from Sciences Po Lyon, France.

Annina Claesson
Mobilizing a Forgotten Sector: A Case for a New Media Code of Ethics on Gender and Conflict

Second Place Winner
Mobilizing a Forgotten Sector: A Case for a New Media Code of Ethics on Gender and Conflict
Annina Claesson (Sweden) is a graduate student in the Master of Human Rights and Humanitarian Action program at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs in France. She is specializing in press freedom issues and digital rights and has a background as a freelance journalist.

Paula Drumond
1325 and Beyond: Moving Forward the WPS Agenda in Latin America

Third Place Winner (Co-Author with Tamya Rebelo)
1325 and Beyond: Moving Forward the WPS Agenda in Latin America
Paula Drumond (Brazil) is Assistant Professor at the Institute of International Relations at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI/PUC-Rio) and researchers of the Global South Unit of Mediation (GSUM). She also serves as member of the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom Academic Network. She received her PhD in International Relations/Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID, Geneva); and her M.A. degree in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro (IRI/PUC-Rio).

Tamya Rebelo
1325 and Beyond: Moving Forward the WPS Agenda in Latin America

Third Place Winner (Co-Author with Paula Drumond)
1325 and Beyond: Moving Forward the WPS Agenda in Latin America
Tamya Rebelo (Brazil) is Assistant Professor at the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM) and the Centro Universitario Belas Artes de São Paulo. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the Institute of International Relations of the University of São Paulo. She is a former fellow of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Muhammad Ammar Hidayahtulloh
WPS in Asean: Progress, Gaps and Way Forward

Third Place Winner
WPS in Asean: Progress, Gaps and Way Forward
Muhammad Ammar Hidayahtulloh (Indonesia) is a researcher at the ASEAN Studies Center of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. He holds a bachelors degree in international relations studies from Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. He is currently pursuing his masters degree in development practice at the University of Queensland. His research interests are ASEAN studies, disability rights, and gender and politics focusing on the underrepresentation of women in politics. He has done research on increasing women’s representation in Myanmar’s and Timor- Leste Parliaments.

Esther Luigi
1325 and Beyond: Ways Forward for the United Nations

Fourth Place Winner
1325 and Beyond: Ways Forward for the United Nations
Esther Luigi (France) is a 2020 International Parliamentary Scholar at the German Parliament. Previously, she worked with a London-based charity supporting parents’ return to work and combating gender-based discrimination in the workplace. She is a member of the Gender and International Politics Program of Polis180, a grassroots think tank for foreign and European politics. She studied politics, intellectual history and international law in Cambridge and Berlin.
Honorable Mentions

Itodo Samuel Anthony
Dismantling Structural Prejudices That Promote Gender Inequality: Overturning a Culture of Violence against Women in Nigeria
Dismantling Structural Prejudices That Promote Gender Inequality: Overturning a Culture of Violence against Women in Nigeria
Itodo Samuel Anthony (Nigeria) teaches Chemistry and Physics at Gateway Excel College Otukpa in Benue State of Nigeria. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of the New Frontiers Youth Forum – a community-based leadership organization for young people. with the mandate of raising an army of volunteers providing positive change within their communities. In the Fall of 2020 he will start the MA program in Sustainable International Development at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, at Brandeis University, Mass. In recognition of his contributions to the development of education in Nigeria, Itodo Anthony was nominated as a Top 50 finalist of the Global Teacher Prize in 2018. He is also the winner of The Future Awards Africa Prize in Education 2018.

Chelsea Cohen
The Third Awakening: The decade of SHE politics
The Third Awakening: The decade of SHE politics
Chelsea Cohen (Zimbabwe) graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Masters in Criminology, Law and Society which focused on Transnational crimes and Security Governance. She is currently pursuing a PhD in International Security, Peace and Conflict in Africa through the University of South Africa.

Karla Drpić
How the Private Sector Can Advance UNSCR 1325 in the 2020s
How the Private Sector Can Advance UNSCR 1325 in the 2020s
Karla Drpić (Croatia) is a student of MA War Studies at King's College London and is a project manager at the UN Global Compact Network UK. She holds a BA in International Relations and Modern Languages from the University of Essex. She is fluent in Croatian, English, and Spanish, and has good knowledge of Italian and Portuguese.

Tabitha Wangui Mwangi
UNSCR1325 and Beyond: Engagement of Women in Dialogue with Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups
UNSCR1325 and Beyond: Engagement of Women in Dialogue with Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups
Tabitha Wangui Mwangi (Kenya) is an early career fellow at the African Leadership Centre, at King’s College London. She is a researcher and consultant on Counter-Terrorism and Security issues and heads the Security Program at the Center for International and Security Affairs (CISA) directing the organization’s Security and Counter-Terrorism programs. She holds a master’s degree in Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security Studies with a cluster in Cyber Terrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya (Israel), and an undergraduate degree in International Relations: Foreign Policy and Diplomacy with a minor in Japanese Language and Culture from United States International University - Africa (Kenya).

Gudlaug Olafsdottir
Promoting Women’s Rights: Creating Conditions for Post-Conflict Peace?
Promoting Women’s Rights: Creating Conditions for Post-Conflict Peace?
Gudlaug Olafsdottir (Sweden) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden. Her focus is primarily on election-related violence and how it influences democratization trajectories. She holds an MSSc in Peace and Conflict Studies and a BSSc in Political Science and Economics. She has conducted two months of field research on the promotion of women’s rights in the aftermath of conflict in northern Uganda, and has participated in a graduate-level course on Gender, Peace and Security at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Gudlaug has previously worked at the headquarters of International IDEA.

Andrea Tuemmler
Escaping the Closet: Women, Peace, and Security was Already Queer
Escaping the Closet: Women, Peace, and Security was Already Queer
Andrea Tuemmler (United States) graduated from the London School of Economics with an MSc in International Relations in 2019. After studying the WPS Agenda in Colombia and in New York, they moved to Washington D.C., where they work as a research analyst on Latin American affairs.
Essay Jury
WIIS and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Washington, DC would like to thank the members of the jury: Fauziya Abdi Ali; Joanna Barelkowska; Chantel Cole; Jessie Evans; Chantal de Jonge Oudraat; Karma Ekmekji; Jessica Grün; Layla Hashemi; Karin L. Johnston; Miriam Laux; Maxinne Rhea Leighton; Kayla McGill; Hannah Neumann; Chiedo Nwankor; Hannah Proctor; Liane Schalatek; Donald Steinberg; Dominik Tolksdorf; Anna Von Gall; Roksana Verahrami; Karin Warner; Ursula Knudsen Latta. Special thanks to Kayla McGill and the members of the WIIS team for organizing the competition and to the Mobilizing Men as Partners for WPS (Our Secure Future) for contributing to the Honorable Mention awards.