Resilience in Ruins: New Lines Institute’s Experts at Women, Peace, and Security Forum Confront the Impact of Conflict on Education and Communities

Pristina, Kosovo, 3 June 2025 — At the inaugural Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Forum in Pristina, the New Lines Institute's WPS and WBC experts united leading voices to examine how armed conflict ravages civilian life—above all, the education of children. Opening the forum, President Vjosa Osmani urged participants to summon the “will, peace, and courage to change the world,” framing a summit devoted to translating empathy into policy.

Chaired by Kallie Mitchell, Head of the Institute’s Gender Policy Portfolio, the panel “Resilience in Ruins” featured:

• Tanya Domi, Senior Fellow, Western Balkans Center
• Dr. Charles A. Kupchan, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Professor, Georgetown University
• Audrey Wubbenhorst, Professor, Humber College, Canada
• Daliborka Uljarević, Executive Director, Center for Civic Education

Mitchell underscored the gendered asymmetries of war. She discussed the devastating impacts of conflict on children’s education, the disproportionate effects on girls’ access to learning during crisis, and how quality gender-inclusive education can break cycles of conflict and violence and support sustainable peace.

She stressed that the WPS agenda’s core strength is “telling the truth” about conflict: centering victims, children, and survivors, and insisting that women not only enter peace negotiations but are empowered to “take up space” and “speak the truths that allow societies to process trauma.”

Throughout the discussion, panelists traced direct linkages between disrupted schooling and protracted instability, presenting evidence that investments in girls’ education correlate with lower rates of conflict recurrence and more durable governance reforms. They urged states and international partners to embed gender-responsive education funding in humanitarian responses and post-conflict recovery strategies.

The WPS Forum continues this week with sessions on human rights, gender-based violence, youth inclusion, and pathways to inclusive governance—reinforcing President Osmani’s charge to convert principled commitments into concrete action.