Gender on the agenda as Wales welcomes women from Jordan and Egypt
03 March 2011
Eleven aspiring female community leaders from Egypt and Jordan will visit Wales between 6 and 11 March as part of the British Council’s Active Citizens programme, that networks and strengthens community activists from twenty countries across the world.
On International Women’s Day on March 8 the visitors will be able to share their perspectives of the turbulent events across North Africa and the Middle East with Welsh politicians and women representing all walks of public life in Wales. Rosemary Butler AM, Deputy Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, will welcome guests to Senedd and there will be a unique opportunity to see Welsh politicians at work and pick up the highlights of the educational programmes for children and young people facilitated by the Assembly parliamentary services.
Later in the day they will participate in the discussion ‘Women’s Achievements in Wales and the World’, hosted by the Welsh Centre for International Affairs, British Council and United Nations Women. Christine Chapman AM will chair the discussion. The event will reflect the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day which is ‘Women’s Achievements over the last 100 years’ by showcasing women from across Wales and around the world from all backgrounds, whose achievements have made a positive contribution internationally.
Grace Ferguson-Thorne, a Welsh Active Citizen who will be joining the guests from Egypt and Jordan, said ‘’For me one of the key aims of the Active Citizens programme is creating a network of people who can learn from each other, share skills, ideas, successes and challenges in community engagement. Having the opportunity to host a group of Egyptian and Jordanians keeps this network growing. It is also especially exciting, given the recent unrest in Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations. This visit will give us the opportunity to get first-hand accounts of the recent protests and from a view not always available, that of a woman.’’
Over the week the visitors will join the ‘Women Making a Difference’ network, a group of women from over twenty countries across the globe that are now involved within their communities and in all areas of Welsh public life. The week’s programme aims to build up their confidence, enhance cross-cultural awareness, encourage a proactive approach to engagement with different audiences in society and broaden their local and international connections.
For example, Jan Stephens, Head of Lifelong Learning at Cardiff University will provide a training session entitled ‘Women in Leadership’ for the delegates from Jordan and Egypt, to help them to recognise their own capabilities and the value of becoming leaders in their home communities.
The Egyptian and Jordanian women will also meet hundreds of inspirational women from all across Wales such as Professor Laura McAllister, a UK leading expert in governance and the Chair of Sport Wales; Julie Williams, Professor at the MRC Centre on Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics and Professor Terry Threadgold, Vice-Chancellor Cardiff University.
They will get the chance to see some of Wales’ famous countryside whilst travelling to Carmarthen, where they will meet local politicians and discuss the political challenges facing rural communities.
Their programme will also include a voice workshop which will give all of the participants the chance to express themselves through music and song, encouraging communication across the boundaries of language. There will also be a drama activity and cultural evening on March 9 at the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Cardiff. The event will embrace the wealth of cultures brought together by the enthusiasm and passion of the Active Citizens from Wales, Jordan and Egypt.
Olga Kelly, Governance Consultant at British Council Wales, said: “The ‘Active Citizens programme harnesses motivation, hones skills of aspiring community leaders and encourages them to take the lead in their community’s sustainable development. Through the platform of intercultural dialogue and joint positive social actions that benefit local communities, ‘Active Citizens’ in Wales, the UK and more than twenty countries across the globe learn and work together and involve others in doing good for their communities. International links that the British Council brings in to the programme enable Active Citizens to gain a global perspective, share experiences and ideas and build long-lasting beneficial links between people, communities and countries.”
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact:
Sarah Page (Cardiff) sarah.page@britishcouncil.org
Dr Olga Kelly (Cardiff) olga.kelly@britishcouncil.org (0)29 2092 4347
Tim Sowula (London) tim.sowula@britishcouncil.org 07771 718 135
Media Interviews available with:
Samar Shahwan, Jordanian National Forum for Women, Jordan
Samar holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and a BA in Law. For 17 years, Samar worked with the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) on several programmes and projects that target women and children and aim at improving their living conditions and expanding opportunities for them. For the past three years, Samar joined the Jordanian National Forum for Women (JNFW) and manages several projects and conducts training sessions pertaining to women’s participation in political and economic lives; last year she conducted training on electoral campaigning for female candidates of the 16th Jordanian parliamentary election.
Aya Faissal Abdel Dayem, The Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women, Egypt
Aya graduated from faculty of economics and political science, Cairo University, in 2008. Aya holds Master's degree in international relations: Cooperation and Development in the Middle East and North Africa. During her study's time, Aya participated in several social and charity activities such as team leader. Aya works in ADEW since 2009 as donor unit officer in which she developed her communication and presentation skills. She also worked as a project facilitator for Mothers at Risk project.
Yara Shahzadeh, Active Citizens Project Manager, British Council Jordan
Yara holds a Master’s degree in Media and Communications Studies from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and worked for over five years at the Royal Hashemite Court as Programme and Activity Co-ordinator for Her Majesty Queen Noor before moving into the development sector in 2000. She went on to become Project Co-ordinator for Rights and Humanity, a UK-based NGO, working on human rights awareness campaigns in Jordan for two years, and later joined the UNICEF, Jordan Country Office and the Regional Office. Yara joined the British Council in 2004 as Governance Projects Manager, but then moved with her 2 children to Dubai to join her husband in 2008, during which she became a full-time mother, working occasionally on short-term consultancies, mainly with the International Labour Organisation and the United Arab Emirate Ministry of Labour. Upon her return to Amman, Yara joined the British Council again on a short-term basis, working mainly on governance-related projects.
About Active Citizens
The aim of the British Council’s Active Citizens programme is to assist local community leaders towards achieving sustainable development both locally and globally. We support grassroots initiatives around the world that promote community cohesion and encourage people to improve their communities through either civic engagement or through volunteering with community-based organisations and projects.
The programme stems from our vision of a world in which people recognise their potential and exercise their responsibility to engage peaceably and effectively with others.
We focus on developing particular leadership skills and knowledge, such as understanding global interdependencies, empowering and motivating individuals to action, and the art of intercultural dialogue within social action. Participants are offered training in order to develop these skills.
Participants are also offered specialist guidance in designing and running Social Action Projects, which aim to generate positive change within the participant’s community. Participants can also benefit from peer support via connections made within the global Active Citizens network.
The programme began in 2009 and is run by the British Council with the support of partner organisations. It is presently at work in over 20 countries, and aims to expand to 30 more within a three-year period. To find out which countries are involved and for more information please visit http://activecitizens.britishcouncil.org/
About the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build opportunity and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the Arts, English, Education and Society, including science and sport - and in the process contribute to the security and prosperity of the UK and the countries where we work. Last year we engaged face to face with 18.4 million people and reached 652 million. We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government. Our total turnover in 2009/10 was £705 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £211 million. For every £1 of government grant we receive, we earn £2.50 from other sources. For more information, please visit http://www.britishcouncil.org/wales.htm
