The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura, will deliver the lecture on the 10th Annual Rajiv Bendre “Women in Public Life Lecture”.
This lecture series is held annually by the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone, a non partisan campaign that advocates for more women in Politics, Parliament, Local Government, and Public Life.
This years theme that Mrs Bangura will talk on is ‘my personal and political quest for gender justice.’ The lecture will be held at the Family Kingdom on the 12th August 2016 at 3.00 pm.
The 50/50 group in its release disclosed that the Annual Rajiv Bendre “Women in Public Life Lecture” series was launched in 2005, and is named in honour of Rajiv Bendre, former Director of The British Council in Sierra Leone who helped to “pioneer the creation of the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone”. This organization “has transformed the lives of so many Sierra Leonean women for participation in politics and public life through advocacy and training”.
The release further stated that the Rajiv Bendre series is a “platform to recognize and highlight the contributions of women in politics and public life who have made a difference in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in the world”.
Adding that “it also provides an important opportunity for these women to share their experiences, thoughts and views with others”.
This year’s guest speaker, Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and a global advocate, has “amplified the voices of war-affected women in the international policy arena, and drawn unprecedented attention to the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war and terrorism.”
On the background of the lecturer, the 50/50 release disclosed that she [Zainab] daughter of an Imam from Sierra Leone, and a one-time refugee from war herself, she is “certainly no stranger to stories of despair, survival and resilience”.
Because of this “she will discuss the widespread and systematic abuse that women suffer in situations of armed conflict, the so-called “war within the war” for power and riches waged by men.” She will also describe her quest for gender justice, including how she has effectively influenced world leaders, military commanders and armed rebel groups to prevent and punish these crimes, and to ensure that women’s rights are at the heart of peace and transitional justice processes”.
Wednesday August 10, 2016