"How to Advocate Effectively, Influence Policy & Decision Making by Governments and the UN" - ADVOCACY WEBINAR.
Sunday 6 September 2020 2PM AEST to 4PM AEST
Dear Soroptimists,
This Webinar is a rare and not to be missed opportunity to view and listen to great speakers who are leading advocates and global influencers on gender equality, human rights and women empowerment.
These illustrious women have significantly influenced government policies and decision-making at the UN with proven results.
* Have you ever wanted to effectively present your key issues or ask vital questions at high level government meetings?
* Have you frozen at the prospect of presenting to Mayors, Members of Parliament or Ministers?
* Do you wish to learn strategies and tips on how best to influence government policies to ensure gender equality and sustainable development in your country or local community?
* Are you keen to eliminate barriers and enable more women to assume high level decision making and leadership roles?
* Do you want to be skillful in negotiating on behalf of women and girls?
Then join us and our Special Panel of VIP Speakers who will be facilitated by Anusha Santhirasthipam, SISWP Immediate Past President and Interim Programme Director.
The Special Guest Panelists are:
Rita Reddy - Gender Expert UNFPA & Former Director of UN Human Rights Programme, OHCHR Geneva.
Gender Expert Consultant to UNFPA Malaysia, Gender Lead for Malaysia for the UK ASEAN project on Future Cities and Low Carbon Energy project, Advocate and Solicitor in Malaysia and Singapore. Barrister at law of the UK. Has a Master's degree in International Business Law and Economics from London.
Worked with the UN for 27 years including as Director of the UN Human Rights Programme in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, as Director of Civil Affairs in UN Peacekeeping Operations in Sudan, as Director of the United Nations Cambodia Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (COHCHR) and as the Special Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Trafficking of Women and Children in the Asia Pacific Region.
Rita has also served as the Senior Coordinator for Refugee Women with UNHCR in Geneva, as the Regional Gender Adviser to UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Region and as the Senior Gender Adviser to the UN mission in East Timor and in New York.
Whilst working with the UN she has contributed to the drafting of the Statute of Rome; Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Family, Protocol to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Palermo Protocol, SAARC Convention on the Prevention of Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation2002, Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking of Human Beings 2005. She has further drafted the Women Peace and Security Resource Package for UNDPKO/DFS NY 2018.; Promising Practices in Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in Timor-Leste; Ten-Year Impact Assessment of UNDPKO implementing resolution 1325; the Five-Year Forward-Looking Strategies on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women for DPKO/DFS 2012-2016 in 2011 and contributing to the drafting of the land law, Civil Code, domestic violence law, human trafficking law, immigration and asylum law, penal code and gender equality laws of Timor-Leste, 2007-9.
Dr. Theresa Devasahayam - Soroptimist International United Nations Representative in Bangkok.
Dr. Theresa W. Devasahayam has engaged extensively on women's issues in Southeast Asia for over 24 years. Working at the intersections of international development and academic research, her concerns have focused on women's role in the family; migrant and trafficked women; aging; and women and leadership. She has authored and edited several books: her most recent publications include Women and Politics in Southeast Asia: Navigating a Man's World (Sussex: Sussex Academic Press, 2019) and Ensuring a Square Meal: Women and Food Security in Southeast Asia (Singapore: World Scientific, 2018).
She has also published in numerous international and regional journals as well as local and regional newspapers in Southeast Asia and has been cited by CNN, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, and The Straits Times.
Theresa is currently an International Consultant for an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project in Indonesia on Gender Responsive Curricula and continues to teach Gender Studies as Associate Faculty at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). She is also Soroptimist International's Representative for Bangkok—a role she has taken on for the past two years.
Ms. Shamima Ali - Founder of Fiji Women's Crisis Centre and expert advocate to eliminate all forms of gender based violence.
Shamima is the Coordinator of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, and has been so for the past 35 years. She's also the chairperson of the Pacific Women's Network Against Violence Against Women and a founding member of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement. Shamima also served as a Human Rights Commissioner in Fiji from 2004 to 2006. A feminist activist, Shamima is in her element working with women and community groups in Fiji and across the Pacific to raise awareness about gender inequality, violence against women and human rights.
Much of her work has been developing and conducting training with police and other service-providers in Fiji as well as the Pacific. She has received recognition for her years of service in the Pacific region on behalf of women, which has included the US State Department's inaugural Women of Courage Award in 2007, the Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand's inaugural Human Rights Defender Award in 2009, being named a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation in 2009 and Pacific Person of the Year by Islands Business Magazine in 2011 for her work on the elimination of violence against women and human rights. Named one of 100 influential persons of the last Century in Fiji for the advancement of Women's Rights.
Register Here for this Webinar. Do share this information with fellow club members and Get Ready to Advocate with Confidence!
Thank you.
Anusha Santhirasthipam
SISWP Immediate Past President
Interim Programme Director