Ella - podcast Women, Peace and Security

In this episode, we meet Ella van den Heuvel, a senior commander in the Royal Netherlands Navy and Women, Peace and Security Ambassador of the Dutch Armed Forces. She chose a military career because she wanted to actively contribute to peace, and over the years discovered how crucial gender, inclusion and mixed teams are to truly making the world safer.

Ella reflects on how, when she started, she simply adapted to the dominant, masculine culture without questioning it. Only later did she realize how limiting that was, and how much stronger armed forces become when everyone can show up as themselves. Today, she works to embed gender perspectives in military culture, operations and decision-making, so that women are not seen as “women first, soldiers second,” but as full professionals whose insights are essential.

From Lebanon to Palestine to Afghanistan, Ella has seen how having women in uniform opens doors: to women in local communities, to information, to trust and cooperation that male-only teams often can’t access. She insists that women in conflict zones are not just victims or even only survivors, but powerful actors of change, and that it’s our job to invite them to the table, listen, and act on what they say.

Her conviction is simple and unwavering:
 implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is not an add-on, but the only way to build sustainable peace. “Without women, no peace. Without men, no peace. Only together can we make this world a better, more peaceful place.”