In 2014, Hauwa Ibrahim, J.D., S.J.D., M.L., was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria to serve on the Presidential Committee working to rescue the 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram from Chibok in northern Nigeria. The rescue effort brought Dr. Ibrahim face-to-face with members of Boko Haram and their mothers. This experience led to the development of Mothers Without Borders -- Dr. Ibrahim’s initiative to challenge extremist ideologies through the “soft power” of mothers. The initiative was further informed by Dr. Ibrahim’s year-long work in Jordan to understand the strategies mothers use to slow down or prevent the recruitment of their children by ISIS.

Dr. Ibrahim, now a visiting scholar at WCW, discusses her hands-on work in several countries, especially in West Africa and the Middle East, focusing on the “soft power” of mothers and women to tame the rising tide of terrorism and extremism while fostering a culture of peace, security, and reconciliation. She shares the short, medium, and long term goals of Mothers Without Borders, which ultimately aims to defeat the ideology of terror.

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March 15, 2019