In Memoriam: Dr. Birgit Laubach, Co-founder of elbarlament

With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our co-founder, Dr. Birgit Laubach, last Friday evening at the age of 76 after a long illness.

Birgit’s journey was marked by a lifelong dedication to democracy, women’s rights, and peacebuilding. She studied law in Mainz, Geneva, and Heidelberg, earning a doctorate on European Citizenship Rights for Immigrants. Her career began as a lawyer in Frankfurt before she became a pioneering advocate for women’s rights, first as an advisor to the parliamentary group of the Green Party in the German national parliament (Bundestag) in 1984, and two years later as a leader in the Hesse State Government’s department for Women and Equality.

In the 1980s, she co-founded the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Cologne, and she later became the executive director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin, where she continued her work for equality and democracy. But it was in 2013 that she founded elbarlament, the organisation that would become her true passion.

Birgit’s vision for elbarlament was built upon the belief that art and culture hold transformative power for peacebuilding and social change. What began as writing workshops for Syrian and Iraqi women grew into a broader initiative that explored filmmaking, theatre, graphic novels, and other forms of creative expression for civic education and peacebuilding purposes. Birgit believed deeply in the power of storytelling and creative expression as a way for women to reclaim their voices, heal, and generate understanding for their needs and aspirations.

Birgit was deeply committed to advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (UNSCR 1325), particularly in Iraq, where she dedicated herself to empowering women as leaders and peacebuilders. She was also passionate about improving the legal situation for women in Iraq — one of her projects, developed with women from civil society organisations and Iraqi parliamentarians, led to the draft of a domestic violence bill in 2019. Her goal was to empower women to participate as equals in their families, societies and, ultimately, in political decision-making and peace processes.

Her unique approach led to the creation of a vibrant network of women activists, parliamentarians, government officials and researchers through which they could share their stories and create alliances for change. Over the years, elbarlament expanded its focus to other key issues for women’s equality and justice like climate change and environmental justice, and civic and political education. However, it was the arts and culture-based approaches and peacebuilding initiatives that remained Birgit’s true calling — a way for women to make their voices heard in a world that often silences them.

Birgit’s tireless work left an indelible mark on the women and communities we serve. Under her leadership, elbarlament grew into a force for change, empowering people, many of them women and youth, across Germany, Myanmar, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Yemen and especially Iraq to stand up for their rights. Her impact cannot be measured in numbers alone — many lives were changed, many women found their voices, and many communities were transformed thanks to her visionary leadership.

Birgit stepped down from the active management of elbarlament in 2024 due to health reasons, but her spirit and vision will continue to guide the organisation into the future. Birgit’s ideas, her passion for justice, and her relentless dedication to change will remain a beacon for all of us who had the honour of working alongside her. Her legacy lives on in the countless women and men whose lives she touched and in elbarlament’s mission and programmes.