Visionews is a global media project aimed at spreading positive news and stories about success in the fields of peace, the environment and gender justice.
Visionews is funded by the Berlin-based Verein zur Unterstützung der Aktivitäten von Friedensfrauen weltweit e.V. (Association to Support the Activities of PeaceWomen Across the Globe). Its cooperation partner is the association Global Cooperation Council e.V., which funds the news agency Inter Press Service Deutschland (IPS). IPS has kindly provided the Visionews website with many stories and reports written by local correspondents and reporters from all over the world. The international network, PeaceWomen Across the Globe, is also a cooperation partner of Visionews; its international secretariat is based in Bern, Switzerland.
The tenth anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2010 provided the motivation to start this global media project. The UN Security Council adopted this ground-breaking resolution on 31 October 2000. It calls for women to be included as equal participants at all levels of peace and reconstruction processes. The UNO’s central organ thus defined women’s right to participate in peace processes as binding under international law for the first time. As agents of change, women must be involved, empowered and supported as equal participants in peace processes.
As many academic studies have shown, the inclusion of women in conflict resolution is extremely effective and of benefit to EVERYONE. Women are certainly not morally superior to men, but because of their social roles, they are less directly involved in the military, war, power and violence. Society as a whole should make use of this. All over the world, women’s groups are the first to work together across ethnic and religious boundaries during and after armed conflicts. Their aim is to bring about long-lasting and just peace.
We have greatly expanded our horizons since starting the Visionews project in October 2010. Our aim is that the stories published on our website will help to show that wars and conflicts over water, land, food and raw materials can be prevented worldwide. If we do not take countermeasures, such wars and conflicts will become increasingly likely due to the climate crisis and resource scarcity. This is why we publish examples of how civil society groups, governments and institutions endeavour to bring about positive change towards climate justice, environmental protection, food sovereignty, a lifestyle based on solidarity, and a sustainable form of economic management.
It was only possible to start the Visionews thanks to the generous support of the German foundations, filia.die frauenstiftung, Stiftung Apfelbaum and Stiftung Umverteilen. We are extremely grateful to all those involved! We would also like to thank the Berlin-based association OWEN – Mobile Academy for Gender Democracy and Peacebuilding, which funded the first project phase until the end of 2012. The Verein zur Unterstützung der Aktivitäten von Friedensfrauen, which is also based in Berlin, has now taken on this role.
Visionews was awarded the Alternative Media Prize in Nuremberg in May 2012. It used the prize money to finance the Spanish version of its website.
Please e-mail any questions, suggestions or comments to visionews(at)visionews.de