The World Today

Waves of refugees. The horrors discovered in liberated villages and cities. In the past year since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the impact of war on women has been hidden in plain sight. ‘Women, we know, are the first to be affected by war, and the last to be taken into account when it ends,’ said Angelina Jolie, the Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2015. Despite internationally adopted resolutions, and overwhelming evidence of women’s central role in sustainable peace, a lack of action on accommodating and including women persists. To honour both women and Ukraine, we offer a collection of stories in two interconnected parts. Margot Wallström, the former Swedish Foreign Minister, who launched the first Feminist Foreign Policy in 2014, examines ways to address the bleak state of women’s rights. Hrystyna Kit charts the Ukrainian legal community’s steep learning curve on being faced with sexual violence in conflict. Lynsey Addario reflects on 20 years of photographing women in conflicts. While pioneering feminist scholar Cynthia Enloe tells Daniel Conway how focusing on women in international relations benefits men. To explore a year of war in Ukraine, Orysia Lutsevych celebrates the resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression. Rob Murray admires the defence and security innovation they have employed. Trisha de Borchgrave charts the pivotal role women have played in the war effort. And Helen Fitzwilliam discovers how Ukrainian artists have responded to war. Finally, Africa’s most populous country goes to the polls on February 25. Leena Koni Hoffmann looks at why Nigeria’s democracy is on the line. Editor, Roxanne Escobales