Updates from the field
Women as Builders of Peace
Reflections from the First Republic of Armenia Prayer Breakfast
November 19, 2025 | by McKenzie Hood
At the inaugural Republic of Armenia Prayer Breakfast, Shai Fund convened a powerful Women, Peace & Security panel highlighting the critical role women play in rebuilding communities after conflict.
Armenia stands at a decisive moment. After the 2023 ethnic cleansing of more than 120,000 Armenian Christians from Nagorno-Karabakh, families across the country are carrying both fresh wounds and an urgent need for long-term recovery. It was into this reality that Shai Fund brought together a Women, Peace & Security panel grounded not in policy language, but in lived experience of mothers, community leaders, and reformers who have rebuilt life in the aftermath of war.
Women Who Rebuild Nations
Shai Fund President Charmaine Hedding opened with a story from Iraq and Northeast Syria, where she found women restoring their communities long before formal peace took hold. One widow told her, “If we leave, the children will forget what peace looks like,” capturing the deeper truth Charmaine emphasized throughout her remarks that women are the first to sense when peace fractures, and the first to rebuild it again.
The panelists’ stories reflected that same truth:
- Rosali Harutyunyan, a survivor from Artsakh and psychologist, spoke of families fleeing under blockade and the immeasurable loss of home, yet insisted, “An Armenian woman may lose her land, but never her roots.”
- Talin Topalakian, Deputy Director of local My Step Foundation, shared how, in both Syria and Armenia, women kept classrooms open, sustained neighborhoods, and restored dignity through education and livelihoods—showing that peace is built through daily acts of courage.
- Tatiana Kotlyarenko connected these testimonies to global frameworks, urging Armenia to elevate women’s experiences into national policy and reminding the audience that real peace requires both protection and participation for those most affected by conflict.
Together, their stories revealed a single narrative: women are not the beneficiaries of peace; they are its architects.
A Call to Raise Women Leaders
In her closing remarks, Charmaine drew these voices together with a call to action. “God calls ordinary women into extraordinary moments of history,” she said. “We must raise them to lead peace—to govern it, legislate it, and safeguard it.”
As Armenia enters a new chapter shaped by both suffering and possibility, the message of the panel was unmistakable: when women rise, communities recover; when women lead, peace becomes possible. Shai Fund remains committed to standing with displaced Armenian Christians and empowering the women who will shape the country’s future.
