During the volatile years following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, when soldiers and militias filled the roads, the veil literally saved my life. One scorching afternoon, a furious soldier stopped me; only when I covered my head did his posture change. “Excuse me, Sister,” he said, handing back my documents.

One of the most impactful aspects of the CWFL Fellowship was its thoughtful engagement with the relationship between faith and leadership. The program moved beyond viewing spirituality as a private matter and instead highlighted how faith traditions can actively inform inclusive leadership, peace building, and principled decision-making.

When Anna became a mother at just 19, she dreamed of giving her baby a safe and loving start in life. But as a single mother in Bucharest, with little support from her parents and no stable income, no money for rent or for her baby's milk, she was desperately vulnerable. During the first year of the pandemic, some high school colleagues reached out to her. They promised her help and “safe work from home” just by video chatting online…

On a quiet morning, weighed down by an inexplicable tension, twelve-year-old Hayat faced an experience that would change her life forever. It was 2006, and she sat quietly, wide-eyed and unsettled, watching her surroundings without understanding what was coming. When her eyes fell on the medical instruments — the scissors and razors — her young heart started to tremble. Overwhelmed by fear, she quickly spiraled into panic as the nurse and her assistant forcefully restrained her, exposing the lower part of her body…