Women’s Agency in Peace Keeping: From Gandhian Philosophy to Global Action

Across centuries of human conflict and struggle, women have emerged not merely as victims or passive observers, but as powerful architects of peace. From the dusty roads of rural India to the slums of Kolkata and the global halls of the United Nations, women have demonstrated that peacekeeping is not just about ending violence-it’s about addressing its root causes through compassion, justice, and unwavering commitment to human dignity. This agency, deeply rooted in principles of nonviolence and social justice, has transformed communities and inspired movements that continue to shape our world today.

The Gandhian legacy: Women leading movements for peace 🔗

The philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi found some of its most devoted followers in women who transformed his principles into action on an unprecedented scale. These women didn’t just study Gandhian thought-they lived it, walking thousands of miles and mobilizing hundreds of thousands to create lasting change.

Nirmala Deshpande: Walking the path of peace 🔗

Nirmala Deshpande joined Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement in 1952, embarking on a remarkable 40,000-kilometer journey on foot across India. This wasn’t a symbolic gesture but a sustained effort to spread Gandhi’s message of village self-governance and land reform. Through this massive padayatra, she walked more than 25,000 miles asking for gifts of land to distribute to landless peasants, directly addressing economic inequality that fueled conflict.

Deshpande’s peacekeeping work went far beyond land reform. She became the driving force behind peace marches in Punjab and Kashmir when violence was at its peak in those states. Her 1994 peace mission to Kashmir and her initiative in organizing an India-Pakistan meeting in 1996 demonstrated how women’s diplomatic efforts could bridge seemingly insurmountable divides. In 1984, she established the Akhil Bharat Rachnatmak Samaj, a coalition of Gandhian institutions and activists, to promote social and communal peace, international peace, brotherhood, and unity.

Her dedication earned her a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and India’s second-highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2006. Perhaps most remarkably, Pakistan awarded her the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, demonstrating how her work for peace transcended national boundaries.

Medha Patkar: Fighting for justice through nonviolent resistance 🔗

While Deshpande focused on communal harmony, Medha Patkar channeled Gandhian principles into environmental and social justice. In 1985, Patkar began mobilizing massive marches and rallies against the Sardar Sarovar Dam project, which threatened to displace over 320,000 villagers, mostly from tribal communities.

Patkar’s approach combined research with grassroots mobilization. She almost died during a 22-day hunger strike in 1991, using her body as a site of protest in the Gandhian tradition of satyagraha. Despite repeated arrests and physical assaults, she remained committed to peaceful resistance. Her efforts led to an unprecedented independent review by the World Bank, which concluded in 1991 that the project was poorly conceived.

Through the Narmada Bachao Andolan, she mobilized adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists into a powerful coalition. This movement didn’t just oppose development-it demanded alternative models that respected both human rights and environmental sustainability. Patkar later founded the National Alliance of People’s Movements, expanding her work across India to address issues facing tribals, Dalits, farmers, and laborers.

The international women’s rights movement: A global agenda for justice 🔗

The work of individual women leaders feeds into and draws strength from a broader international women’s rights movement that has fundamentally reshaped how we understand peacekeeping and security.

This global movement recognizes that true peace requires addressing multiple forms of violence and discrimination simultaneously. It works to counter violence against women, Dalits, minorities, and tribals while raising voices against fundamentalism and communalism. The movement exposes how religion and tradition are often misused for political gain, demanding instead genuine gender, social, and distributive justice.

Today, the Women, Peace and Security agenda recognizes that when women lead, peace follows. Research consistently shows that peacekeeping is more effective when it considers the different ways that women, men, boys, and girls are affected by conflict. Women peacekeepers encourage local women to participate in dialogues and open up about issues they face, including sexual and gender-based violence.

Despite this recognition, challenges persist. As of 2024, women represented only 18 percent of negotiators or delegates in peace processes led or supported by the United Nations. The movement continues pushing for equal representation, knowing that peace agreements with gender provisions are more likely to create lasting change.

Mother Teresa: Service as peacekeeping 🔗

While Deshpande and Patkar confronted systemic injustice through mass mobilization, Mother Teresa embodied a different but equally powerful form of peacekeeping-service to the most vulnerable.

In 1950, Mother Teresa established the Missionaries of Charity, initially dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Her vision of peacekeeping operated at the most intimate level-caring for individuals who society had abandoned. She opened homes for the dying, ensuring that people could die with dignity regardless of their faith. Muslims read the Quran, Hindus received water from the Ganges, and Catholics received last rites.

Her work expanded rapidly. She established Shanti Nagar, the City of Peace, for people with leprosy, challenging the stigma that isolated these individuals from society. By the time she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, the Missionaries of Charity had built homes for orphans, nursing homes for lepers and hospices for the terminally ill not just in Calcutta but around the world.

The Nobel Committee recognized that Mother Teresa promoted peace by affirming the inviolability of human dignity. In 1980, India conferred on her the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honor. Her organization grew to operate in over 133 countries, with more than 4,500 nuns managing homes for those dying from various diseases, running soup kitchens, orphanages, and schools.

Mother Teresa’s approach demonstrated that peacekeeping isn’t only about preventing war or resolving conflicts between nations. It’s also about creating peace in individual lives through acts of compassion and service. Her work inspired co-workers across faiths, showing that devotion to the poor could unite people regardless of religious differences.

Women’s agency: From local action to global transformation 🔗

What connects these diverse expressions of women’s agency in peacekeeping is a fundamental understanding that peace requires more than the absence of war. Deshpande’s work for communal harmony, Patkar’s fight for environmental and social justice, and Mother Teresa’s service to the dying all recognized that violence takes many forms-communal, structural, and the violence of neglect.

These women demonstrated that peacekeeping demands different strategies for different contexts. Sometimes it requires walking thousands of miles to build solidarity. Other times it means standing firm against unjust development or quietly caring for the abandoned. The international women’s rights movement now works to ensure that this diverse expertise is recognized and incorporated into formal peace processes.

The legacy of these women continues to inspire new generations. Their lives show that women’s agency in peacekeeping isn’t about adopting masculine models of security but about bringing different perspectives, priorities, and methods to the work of building lasting peace. They proved that prayer, simplicity, and humble acts of love can be as powerful as mass mobilization and political negotiation.

What do you think? How can we ensure that women’s contributions to peacekeeping-whether through service, activism, or diplomacy-receive the recognition and support they deserve in today’s conflict-ridden world? What would it take to move from treating women’s participation in peace processes as an add-on to recognizing it as essential for any sustainable peace?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirmala_Deshpande
2. https://wikipeacewomen.org/wpworg/en/?page_id=2393
3. https://feminisminindia.com/2022/04/01/nirmala-deshpande-activist-and-gandhian-who-worked-tirelessly-for-social-reformation-indianwomeninhistory/
4. https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/medha-patkar/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narmada_Bachao_Andolan
6. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2025/10/what-is-the-women-peace-and-security-agenda
7. https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/gender-equality-in-peacekeeping-why-it-matters-for-global-security
8. https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/facts-and-figures/facts-and-figures-women-peace-and-security
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa
10. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1979/teresa/facts/
11. https://www.britannica.com/question/What-awards-did-Mother-Teresa-win