Women and Leadership in Muslim Societies: Voices for Change

November 25, 2002

Prominent women leaders discussed women's leadership and strategies for expanding women's political participation in Muslim societies. Panelists included
Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran), Ayesha Imam (Nigeria), Asma Khader (Jordan), Thoraya Obaid (Saudi Arabia), Shirin Tahir-Kheli (Pakistan), and Azar Nafisi (Iran, Moderator).

Presented by

WLP IN COLLABORATION WITH
The School of Advanced International Studies
at Johns Hopkins University

PRESENTERS
Azar Nafisi (Moderator) - Mahnaz Afkhami - Ayesha Imam - Asma Khader - Thoraya Obaid - Shirin Tahir-Kheli

LISTEN to the panel discussion or READ a review of the event.

WHEN
Monday, November 25, 2002
5:00 to 7:00 PM
Reception at 5:00 PM
Program begins at 5:30 PM

WHERE
The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Kenney Auditorium
1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Prominent women leaders will discuss women's leadership and strategies for expanding women's political participation in Muslim societies.

Azar Nafisi (Iran-Moderator) is a visiting scholar at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and Director of the SAIS Dialogue Project at Johns Hopkins University. She has written and lectured widely on the political implications of literature and culture and on the human rights of women and girls.

Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran), Founder and President of Women's Learning Partnership, has been a leading advocate of women's rights internationally for more than three decades, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. She is Executive Director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies and former Minister of State for Women's Affairs in Iran.

 

 

Ayesha Imam (Nigeria), an expert on women's legal rights in Africa, is former Executive Director of BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights. Co-founder of the first feminist organization in Nigeria, Women in Nigeria, she is a core member of Women Living Under Muslim Laws, an international solidarity network.

 

 

Asma Khader (Jordan), a leading advocate of the campaign to strengthen legislation outlawing honor killing, is a member of the Permanent Arab Court as Counsel on violence against women. She is Coordinator of Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan and former President of the Jordanian Women's Union.

 

 

Thoraya Obaid (Saudi Arabia), Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN. A leading advocate for the advancement of women's rights, she is former Director of the Division for Arab States and Europe at UNFPA and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

 

Shirin Tahir-Kheli (Pakistan), former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for special political affairs, is a fellow and research professor at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and formerly served on the National Security Council.