Christina Foerch Saab holds her Master degree in Political Sciences and Spanish from the Free University of Berlin. In 2000, she moved from Berlin to Beirut where she has been working as filmmaker, journalist and consultant for NGOs. She has specialized in issues such as the memory of the Lebanese civil war, ex-combatants, peace education, arms control and disarmament processes.
Emilie Tankora has been working on peacebuilding programming and initiatives in Niger for the past ten years. She is trained in mediation, conflict management and non-violent communication. She previously worked with the NGO EIRENE to support local organizations to develop peacebuilding actions and conflict sensitive approaches in the Sahel Region.
Lisa-Raine Hunt is a Community Coordinator working between local and central government. In London, she facilitates programmes with faith, race, disability, LGBTQ and gender focus groups to map and understand the context of extremism as well as enable grass roots community action that counters extremism in all forms.
Mark Amaza works on sustainable and youth development, and media in Nigeria. He works on a campaign to increase energy access through decentralized renewable energy. He is also a founder of an initiative that aims to implement community projects in Borno State that has been ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.
Sintija Bernava has been holding high-profile positions in the Government and Parliament in Latvia. Sintija is Chairwoman of the Board of Non Governmental Organisation ''Donum Animus'' and manages social innovations for children and youth from marginalized groups (''Creative Workshops''), and has published numerous international publications addressing social issues.
Nora Abdalaal is a university student and a human rights advocate from Canada who has founded her own registered non profit, called Bridging Borders. Bridging Borders, which is youth run, aims to connect people together and bridge the economic, social, and physical borders between them. They believe that by acting as a facilitator for humanitarian aid between different groups of people, they can take a step in the right direction and achieve incremental change towards a more interconnected and interdependent world. The slogan of the non profit is #HumansForHumans.
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 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 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.
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