I know several people have asked about the global women's movement session of the Feminism in London conference so I thought I'd start a separate thread for this.
I know the FIL website is going to come down soon so I'm copying across some info about the session and the speakers:
This panel will look at the women's movement internationally. Its purpose is to link feminist activism in the United Kingdom with our sister movements across the world in order to shift and broaden our gaze to configure the terrain of what consists of feminist and activist, raise understanding and awareness as well as stand together in solidarity in our struggles.
By presenting the experiences and activism of struggles for the human rights of women, the panel will address 'full spectrum feminism,' discussing different kinds and manifestations of patriarchy, poverty and exploitation from feminist perspectives.
Chair - Cynthia Cockburn - a feminist researcher and writer working at the intersection of gender studies and peace/conflict studies.
Speakers:
Nadje Al-Ali is Professor in Gender Studies and Chair of the Centre for Gender Studies, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
Her main research interests revolve around gender theory; feminist activism; women and gender in the Middle East; transnational migration and diaspora moblization; war, conflict and reconstruction. Her publications include What kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq (2009, University of California Press, co-authored with Nicola Pratt); Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (2007, Zed Books); New Approaches to Migration (ed., Routledge, 2002, with Khalid Koser); Secularism, Gender and the State in the Middle East (Cambridge University Press 2000) and Gender Writing ? Writing Gender (The American University in Cairo Press, 1994) as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles. Her most recent book (co-edited with Nicola Pratt) is entitled Women and War in the Middle East: Transnational Perspectives (Zed Books, 2009).
Nadje is currently President of the Association of Middle East Women?s Studies (AMEWS). She is also a member of the Feminist Review Collective and a founding member of Act Together: Women?s Action for Iraq. (www.acttogether.org) and a member of Women in Black UK.
Leila Alikarami is a practicising lawyer in the field of media, women's rights and children's rights and a member of Iran's Defenders of Human Rights Centre.
Active in One Million Signatures, a campaign by women in Iran calling for the repeal of discriminatory laws, Leila has conducted legal training and teaching to raise awareness as well as defended campaigners who have been arrested by the Iranian government. The Campaign has received the Feminist Majority's Global Women's Rights Award, Reach All Women in War's Anna Politkovskaya Award and the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom.
Marie-Claire Faray-Kele, mother of two daughters, is a research scientist in infectious diseases. Actively involved in the voluntary sector, campaigning for peace, human?s rights and women's participation and representation in decision making arena. Vice President of the UK section of the Women's Intenational League for Peace and Freedom, where she campaigns on Violence Against Women and the implementation of UN SCR 1325.
She coordinates the UK WILPF Voices of African Women Campaign and works on the road map of actions for the African Women's Decade 2010-2020; promoting the Maputo Protocol on the rights of women in Africa. She is an active member of the executive committee for COMMON CAUSE UK, the platform of Congolese women in the UK and a member of the Million Women Rise coalition.
Tsitsi Matekaire is a Programme Manager at WOMANKIND Worldwide and is working with partner organisations in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe to implement programmes aimed at eliminating violence against women and increasing women?s civil and political participation.
Before joining WOMANKIND, Tsitsi was Director of Women in Politics Support Unit, a women?s organisation in Zimbabwe providing technical support to women in Parliament and local government and campaigning for their increased representation and led the organisation?s Vote for a Woman Campaigns during the 2003 and 2005 local government and Parliamentary elections respectively.
Tsitsi is passionate about women?s rights and would like to see a better world where women?s voices are heard and part of the decision making processes.
Katherine Ronderos is the Programme & Advocacy Co- ordinator of the Central America Women?s Network (CAWN). She coordinates the project ?Challenging violence against women in Honduras, identifying the links between reducing poverty and promoting women?s rights?.
She holds an MSc in Development Studies from the London South Bank University in the UK and a BSc in Economics from the St Thomas University in Colombia. Katherine has focused her work in supporting local organisations in capacity building, women?s political participation and income generation projects for women, minority and ethnic groups in Colombia and the UK.
As a Colombian based in the UK, Katherine has been campaigning to address the rights of Latin American women in areas of gender equality, women?s empowerment and participation in peace-building processes. Katherine has advocated for the development and implementation of policies for women to exercise their right to live a life free of violence at international foras, such as the UN and the EU, and is currently a trustee of the Latin America Women's Rights Service (LAWRS) and a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).