Hajer Sharief

Hajer Sharief is the co-founder of the “Together We Build it” NGO in Libya and an Extremely Together Young Leader of the Kofi Annan Foundation. With her organization, Hajer advocates for women’s and youth inclusion in peace in Libya. In 2013, she co-initiated the 1325 Network in Libya, a network of civil society organisations encouraging women to play an active role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. As part of the Kofi Annan Foundation's Extremely Together initiative, she also helped design the first ever youth-led countering violent extremism toolkit.

Louie Gardiner

Louie Gardiner is the creator of the P6 Constellation – the framework that enables people to access the praxis of Presence in Action. This powerful approach equips people to engage in deep personal change, transforming their relationships with themselves, others and the wider world. She is a Director of Presence In Action (PIA) Collective CIC and Potent 6 in which she is the Lead PIA Practitioner & Learning Partner; Change Consultant & Trainer-Facilitator.

Rishabh Khanna

Rishabh Khanna is the Chief Impact Officer at Earthbanc and a steering committee member of ILLP (Initiative of Land, Lives and Peace ). He  is driven by his calling to strike a balance between social and ecological systems. For over 10 years he has focused on applying new economic and business models which accord with the planet and all its creatures. He founded the Indian Youth Climate Network.

14 June 2019: Women Strike Day in Switzerland

By Barbara Hintermann, Secretary General IofC Switzerland

14/06/2019
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By Barbara Hintermann, Secretary General IofC Switzerland
Barbara Hintermann

We have come a long way since 14 June 1991 when I took part in Switzerland’s first national women’s strike day on the Bundeshausplatz in Bern. And we still have a long way to go to achieve equality between men and women.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), Switzerland is at the bottom of the list when it comes to wage gaps between men and women in senior positions. Women only make up about 17 per cent of the people at governance level in Switzerland, and only about six per cent of directors. The ILO reckons that for the beneficial effects of diversity to be felt, women must occupy at least 30 per cent of leadership positions. We have not reached this critical mass.

According to Amnesty International, one in five women in Switzerland is affected by sexual violence.

These statistics cry out for us to intensify our efforts for equal rights and equal treatment in Switzerland.

Having worked for many years in the humanitarian field, I cannot stop at the borders of Switzerland. Women continue to be the target of sexual violence in many armed conflicts in the world. In wars, they are often also the only remaining provider for the household, a burden that they cannot share with anybody else. Today my thoughts are with all those women around the world who face tremendous physical and psychological suffering.

Initiatives of Change Switzerland, the foundation which I lead, works on ethical leadership and building trust as a path to peace and reconciliation. Ethical leadership includes a commitment to gender balance, to diversity and to deep respect for equal treatment. At Initiatives of Change Switzerland, we are proud to say that we have reached gender balance at the governance level. In our annual Caux Forum, diversity is one of our key approaches in working creatively for peace and reconciliation. Our international programme Creators of Peace a women-led peacebuilding initiative, shows the importance of women playing in peace and reconciliation. But too often, women are left out of the decision and policy-making process.

Today, 28 years after the last national women’s strike day, I am on the road again. Sadly, we are still fighting for the same issues here in Switzerland: equal salaries for equal positions, gender balance in management and leadership, respect for women’s rights. But the fight is worth it, if not for my generation, then for my daughter’s.

#14juin2019 #equalrights #womenstrike #grevefeministe

Karen Demavivas

Karen Demavivas is a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum where she managed a community of social entrepreneurs and innovators as well as engaged investors in the Forum’s sustainable and impact investing initiatives. One of the initiatives she co-founded was a workshop series called ScaleShop, which brought together entrepreneurs, investors, intermediaries, and government representatives in a cross-mentoring exchange on the challenges and opportunities of impact investing.

Amandeep Singh Gill

Amandeep Singh Gill is Executive Director of the Secretariat for the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation. Previously, he served as India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1992 and served abroad at the Indian Missions in Tehran, Colombo and Geneva. From 2013-2016, he served as Head of the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Morgan Gray

Morgan Gray brings an international affairs perspective and corporate communications experience to her current role, leading Digital Listening & Insights globally for Corteva Agriscience™, the only major agriscience company completely dedicated to agriculture. A strong supporter of a liberal arts education and the humanities, she joined DuPont, a multinational science company, as part of the EMEA public affairs team focusing on digital communications.

Dr. Christiane Agboton

Dr Christiane Isabelle Agboton Johnson, a French and West African national, is currently Director of Special Programmes, Centre de Hautes Etudes de Défense et de Sécurité (CHEDS) in Senegal. Since 1998, she has committed herself to a wide array of church and civil society activities, especially devoting herself to peacebuilding, development and education, particularly with respect to women and children.

Jean Brown

Jean Brown is one of the elders for Creators of Peace and has been involved with CoP since 1994. Jean is the designer of the Creators of Peace Circles which have spread to 50 countries over the last fifteen years. She authored the CoP facilitation and training manuals and most recently was the convenor for CoP's 25th anniversary conference.

Aili Channer

Aili Channer is a student and aspiring writer. She is interested in the symbols and motifs that fascinate and preoccupy human beings across different places and times, and is passionate about the ways in which storytelling can become a means of discovering mutual understanding. As well as enjoying writing both fiction and non-fiction, she is interested in the roles art, culture and heritage can have in healing, therapy and peacebuilding. Aili was a winner of the 2019 HART Essay Prize for Human Rights. She grew up in the UK, Kenya and France.

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