January 21, 2007
Panelists: Asma Khader, General Coordinator of Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan (SIGI/J) and Sindi Medar-Gould, Executive Director of BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights in Nigeria
At the Seventh World Social Forum in Nairobi,
Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) will present an interactive panel and
dialogue with women’s rights activists from Africa and the Middle East who will
discuss strategies to strengthen social movements, particularly the women’s
movement, in an era of crisis for civic organizing. Efforts to achieve gender
equality, human rights, and social justice are being increasingly challenged by
rising extremism and fundamentalism, wars and conflict, poverty, and violence.
Activists are overcoming these barriers by working together to devise
innovative, context-relevant strategies that will transform power relations and
dynamics with the family, community, and society.
The event will include the premier of Against All Odds: Women Partnering for Change in a Time of
Crisis, a new 25-minute video released by Women’s Learning
Partnership that showcases the perspectives of activists from around the world
including Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, and Lebanon. They discuss
the ways and means of strengthening women’s movements by building alliances,
sharing inter-generational experience and expertise, and developing
culture-specific, grassroots-based approaches to empowering women and
girls.
WHEN
Sunday, January 21, 2007
WHERE
World Social Forum
Moi International Sports
Center Kasarani
Nairobi, Kenya
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES:
Asma Khader
(Jordan), a prominent human rights lawyer and activist, is Coordinator
of Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan, former Minister of State and
Government Spokesperson for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and former
President of the Jordanian Women’s Union. She is a member of the Arab Lawyer’s
Union, the Arab Organization for Human Rights, and the Executive Committee of
the International Commission of Jurists. Ms. Khader was instrumental in creating
a Legal Literacy/Legal Assistance program for Jordanian women. In 1990 she
received an Award of Honor from Human Rights Watch for her role in defending
human rights. Elected to the Permanent Arab Court as Counsel on violence against
women, she is a leading advocate of the campaign to strengthen legislation
outlawing honor killing.
Sindi
Médar-Gould (Nigeria), a women’s human rights activist for over 20
years, is Executive Director of the Nigeria-based organization BAOBAB for
Women’s Human Rights, a non-profit organization working to promote women’s human
rights and legal rights under customary and religious law in Africa. BAOBAB also
coordinates programs for Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) in Africa and
the Middle East. Previously, she was the Executive Director of WISSEA, Kano and
the Coordinator of the Women and Law Program for Kano State. She is an
experienced teacher, researcher, and trainer in gender, leadership, feminism,
conflict resolution, gender budget analysis, human rights and ethics. Ms.
Médar-Gould serves as Chairperson of the Nigeria Coalition on the International
Criminal Court.
ABOUT WLP
Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) is dedicated to women’s leadership and empowerment. In cooperation with 18 autonomous partner organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, WLP produces culture-specific curriculum in 17 languages and implements participatory leadership training to empower grassroots women. WLP aims not only to help booster the number of women involved in local, regional and global decision-making, but more importantly, to encourage leadership styles that lead to gender equality, democracy, peace, human rights, and social justice.