Women Activists

"She largely set aside her writing after the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, to focus on documenting [alleged] war crimes and working with children on or near the frontline."

"[On being chosen to represent Lviv in a Russian language contest aged 15] At the contest in Moscow I met kids from all those countries Russia would later try to invade or assimilate: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova. The Russian Federation invested a lot of money in raising children like us from the "former Soviet republics" as Russians. They probably invested more in us than they did in the education of children in rural Russia: those who were already conquered didn't need to be tempted with summer camps and excursions to the Red Square. Hopefully I will have turned out to be one of the worst investments of the Russian Federation."

"We should talk about reconciliation and forgiveness, of course. But, before talking about it to Ukrainians, it’s crucial to let Russians know that they have to do lots of work on their end. So I’d rather postpone the discussion until one side is not being bombed by the other."

"[The changing borders of Ukraine during the Soviet period] Under any [totalitarian] regime you get used to it, and you more than cooperate. You become part of this regime. In my novel Dom’s Dream Kingdom, I used the story of my grandfather. He was a Soviet military pilot. He became part of the Soviet regime. But he was from the east of Ukraine, where the Holodomor [now recognised in Ukraine as an act of genocide] occurred. His family were victims of the that man-made famine, and he had terrible memories about that. I also remember my grandfather explaining to me the fear he felt if the Soviet army could potentially send him to Czechoslovakia in 1968. But regimes force people to do terrible things. As a Ukrainian I felt there was something wrong with that, and I should be somehow even ashamed. This is not what is happening in Russia today. There is no shame."

"As for me, I don't hate Russians at all; I'm so exhausted by the war they have waged on us that I cannot feel anything. I am numb. There’s a beautiful song by the Ukrainian band Kozak System, a wartime song with many profanities but no hatred. It starts like this: "Our national idea— fuck the hell off!""

"So maybe it is time to shift the debate from whether the world should 'forgive' Russian imperial art and literature, to how to prevent one of Europe’s cultures from becoming another Executed Renaissance. I was never a fan of Cancel Culture. But maybe the Execute Culture that Russians have repeatedly practiced on free Ukrainians is something the world would like to stop before it’s too late again."

"I know a little bit too much as I was brought up to be Russian: I attended a Russian school in Lviv, a Russian Orthodox church, a teens’ summer camp in Russia, etc. When I was 15, I was even chosen to go to Moscow to represent my city at the international Russian language contest. Hopefully, I turned out to be a terrible investment for Russia."

"Women’s rights must be respected and their place should not be in the shadows, but in the light."

"Often we succeed, but not always. As I write this, on my way to Izyum to document war crimes, the occupiers may well be destroying the evidence of genocide in Mariupol. Despite all our efforts, too many stories will never be known. As a human rights activist, I document war crimes and advocate for justice. Yet, as a writer, I know there are wounds only stories can heal."

"Має бути саме внутрішня готовність жити текстами, перетворювати себе на тексти, писати навіть тоді, коли ніхто не читатиме. У цьому не може відмовити жоден видавець. Якщо література – ваш спосіб взаємодії зі світом, то ставатимуться дива."

"Now there is a real threat that Russians will successfully execute another generation of Ukrainian culture – this time by missiles and bombs. For me, it would mean the majority of my friends get killed. For an average westerner, it would only mean never seeing their paintings, never hearing them read their poems, or never reading the novels that they have yet to write."

"Leaders are failing to grasp the urgency of the crisis before us."

"The basic thing is that we have given each other space. Being able to support each others interests is important in any relationship. It is also important not to have bottled up feelings in a home."

"I tell them that being honest is important. I have also taught them to be hard-working because the world is so cruel to lazy people."

"Women should remember they are individuals in their own right. They are not appendices of men. You can only improve your life, if you know your value. Society has for too long conditioned women to see themselves as secondary that they can only live in the shadow of men, which is not the case."

"Africa has challenges because of its diversity, and that could also be its strength."

"...to understand that Africa has resources. Its greatest resource is in its people. How you see us as solving the problem together with you, and positioning yourselves to be facilitators of this process, rather than fixing us, might be one way that we could begin to solve these problems."

"A lot of what we do is affected by our cultural way of doing things. If we engage with African people, they would be able to help us think about their culture and how it affects farming."

"My education has enabled me to learn about it and now I stand against it and stand so that no other girl can go through that."

"I went through the genital mutilation not knowing what it was."

"I was told it's what will make me a woman. I didn't know that it's something that is done very... it's horrible, you are cut, your genitalia is cut, no anesthesia, you bleed and some people die out of it."

"I'm lucky, I only fainted and came back to life."

"If you want to get married, you can get married. You have to choose to whom you get married and when the right time is. Marriage is a lot of work. But there is no pressure, the time will come, and there are a lot of men out there!"

"But when you give a girl an opportunity, she will never, ever embarrass you or let you down."

"I knew that I wanted something different. So, instead of focusing on being intimidated, I focused on education. I focused on going to school and making sure I stayed there."

"I could've easily given up but I didn't. All my breakdowns are breakthroughs. I believe I need them in order to push through."

"I wanted to continue with school because my mother was denied an education and she always told us if she went to school she would have been a different person, so I talked to my dad and told him I can only go through the genital mutilation if he lets me go back to school."

"A peace process is not about the mathematics of numbers and percentages in relation to who is in majority or minority. It is about plurality, diversity, participation and ownership of all affected by the conflict and who live in the context hence nothing less than full participation and ownership."

"“Feast with your enemies. So I do my best to prepare and offer food to those with whom I find myself in disagreement.""

"I dedicate myself and the right livelihood award owner to the service of peace in a practical way to consolidate the work already undertaken and to give a new energy and focus in developing peace system by harnessing the body of knowledge through establishing a University for peace in Wajir Kenya."

"It's not that women get written out of history - they never get written in"

"It is obvious that the Unionist Party is quite prepared to set Catholic against Protestant in this country rather than give the reforms which would in fact mean there would be an end to sectarianism."

"She was the person that galvanised all the array of different issues, opinions, claims, angsts that different communities had had around alienation of land, loss of authority and she really encapsulated that into the march and the term not one more acre."

"Dame Whina was very strong willed and believed in fighting for things that benefited Maori. She didn't care who was in power, but believed that not one more acre of land should be alienated from Māori without Māori consent."

"The seines were banned in 2010. However, they are still used in some areas of the coast where people lack the political will to stop it"

"̽Growing up partly in Dar es Salaam is what made Muthiga have passion for the ocean. "My mother used to take us to the beach on Sundays. Swimming in the ocean and seeing the various creatures, shells and algae washed up on the beach fascinated me""

"Marine management is about using a suite of methods that keep fish biomass at around 500 kg per hectare, which greatly increases the chances of sustainability and habitat resilience"

"Not one more acre."

"Fishers get a high-quality catch and therefore make more money per trap whilst reducing negative ecological impacts"

"Let us all remember that the Treaty was signed so that we could all live as one nation in Aotearoa."

"The coral reef fish recover due to reduced fishing, and the numbers of fish increase in the tengefu and surrounding fishing grounds. At the coast, there is a growing movement called tengefu, (meaning “set aside” in Kiswahili) in which communities agree to halt fishing for a while."

"I have always had the same personal statement: to gain knowledge and apply it back home."

"This information is absolutely critical for programs that seek to enhance productivity, maximize resources like water and fertilizer, and inform life-saving decisions through early warning leading to early action."

"There are many young scientists, young women, people of color or who grew up like me, who don't yet have a clear path. I hope to inspire them that there's room for them in science, that they can help people and be recognized for the work that they do."

"With the right tools at the right time, in the right place, decisions that save lives can be made."

"I was introduced to the reality of drought and food insecurity."

"It is time for young people to participate in efforts to conserve the environment because most of them will be around to suffer the effects of natural calamities that could come as a result of climate change. There are many urgent issues, but I would narrow it down to two; climate change and quality leadership."

"I was enlightened on the complexity of the issues in the region, including how development aid compounds the existing problems caused by the political context and the physical environment."

"And, this is why we need to support @Wikipedia! Brahmins hate knowledge spreading! Concealing resources, denying education and punishing for learning is an age-old Hindu culture. Become a ’HERO’ of #FreeInformation by donating [to wikipedia]."

"I think that it’s very important, and what’s really crucial here is the memory of the victims and the search for the truth, and also the commitment to substantiate the truth. So the truth is foremost, because they accused us of being liars. They tried to denigrate the memory of the victims."