JHU SAIS to Host Forum on Women and Leadership in Muslim Societies

The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will host a forum, "Women and Leadership in Muslim Societies: Voices for Change," on Monday, 11/25 at 5:30 p.m. (a reception will precede the event at 5 p.m.)

The event, co-sponsored by the SAIS Dialogue Project and the Women's Learning Partnership, will feature an international panel of women leaders who will discuss leadership and strategies for expanding women's political participation in Muslim societies.

Panelists include:

Mahnaz Afkhami - founder and president of Women's Learning Partnership, executive director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies, and former minister of State for Women's Affairs in Iran

Ayesha Imam - former executive director of BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights, co-founder of Women in Nigeria, and core member of Women Living Under Muslim Laws

Asma Khader - member of the Permanent Arab Court as counsel on violence against women, coordinator of Sisterhood is Global Institute/Jordan, and former president of the Jordanian Women's Union

Thoraya Obaid - executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 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 - former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for special political affairs, fellow and research professor at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and formerly served on the National Security Council.

Azar Nafisi (moderator) - Visiting scholar at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and director of the SAIS Dialogue Project

The forum, free and open to the public, will be held in Kenney Auditorium located on the first floor of the school's Nitze Building, 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.

For more information, contact Felisa Neuringer at the SAIS Public Affairs Office at 202.663.5626 or [email protected].