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Building True Global Feminist Solidarity

This is a different episode of the podcast with host Julia Wiklander speaking about the global feminist solidarity movement, building resilience in the midst of deep pain, and why she started the podcast.
This is an episode to remind us of why we’re doing this work.
She talks about what feminist solidarity really means - and what inspired her to start Girls’ Globe to amplify the voices of so many people who go unrecognized or unheard.
Julia encourages us that our voices matter and how important it is to reflect on our values and to let them lead in all aspects of our work - including our communications. Her new course Strategic Storytelling for Changemakers is an opportunity to create a powerful communications strategy that is aligned with our values and purpose, defined by our powerful stories and the people we want to reach.

Beth Woroniuk: Feminist-led Change in a Turbulent World

Beth Woroniuk is currently a Senior Fellow with the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative. Until earlier this year, she was the Vice-President, Policy at the Equality Fund.
Beth has worked to advance gender justice and feminist approaches to policymaking for over 35 years. She has advised and worked with bilateral aid agencies, women’s funds, UN entities, international NGOs and feminist organizations, strengthening their work on gender equality and women’s rights in numerous contexts and countries.
Beth has developed analytical tools, supported policy development, carried out research, blogged, conducted evaluations, organized, lobbied and testified before the Canadian Parliament. She is particularly interested in analyzing resource investments in gender equality and feminist movements, feminist foreign policies and women, peace and security.
In this episode Beth shares her own stories, perspectives and reasons for hope. 
Julia and Beth talk about resilience as feminist changemakers and the multiple crises that we’re facing in the world. Beth gives us insights into the challenges, and the wins that we’re seeing as a global feminist movement. She shares amazing advice for young women who are moving into the feminist advocacy space today.
 

Hassina Sherjan: A Legacy for Education in Afghanistan

Hassina Sherjan is the Founder and CEO of Aid Afghanistan For Education. She has over 30 years of experience in education, business, communication, and journalism.
Hassina is a co-author of “Toughing It Out in Afghanistan,” published in February 2011, and has published various op-eds in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, and more. She is a member of the Board of Advisors at Samuel Hall, and a Global Ambassador for The International Alliance for Women (TIAW). She is also a 2023 GlobalGiving Community Voices fellow.
In this conversation, Hassina Sherjan shares her own story of coming back to Afghanistan 19 years after leaving the country at the age of 19.
Julia and Hassina talk about her work to strengthen efforts for education and girls’ education in particular, throughout the many years she was active working in Afghanistan.
Hassina speaks about the shock and aftermath of the Taliban takeover in 2021 and how her work for education in Afghanistan continues in a different form.

Elizabeth Dartnall: Resilience, Collective Care and Trauma-informed work

Elizabeth Dartnall is the Executive Director of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). She has 25+ years of expertise in health systems, mental health, and addressing violence against women and children.
Liz is an experienced global health specialist. Her career encompasses roles in both government and research in a range of countries across the world. Since 2006, she has overseen the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) and successfully transitioned it into an independent NGO with the backing of multiple partners. Committed to feminist, ethical, and equitable approaches, Liz continues to lead research and policy initiatives that play a key role in building a violence-free world for women.
Liz sits on a number of international advisory groups, including the Global Women’s Institute leadership council, and serves on the board of the MenEngage Alliance. She is committed to redressing the deep inequity in the investment in research on violence against women and violence and children between the high income and low and middle income countries (LMICs) and supporting researchers and practitioners in LMICs to undertake priority driven, impactful, rigorous, feminist, and ethical research.
In this conversation Liz shares her personal story of childhood experiences that what brought her to this work working with addressing violence against women and children.
We talk about funding for the gender equality and women’s rights movement and about collective care. Liz talks about the vicarious trauma that people working in this field experience and how SVRI is implementing collective care in all parts of their work.
Learn more about SVRI and the SVRI Forum. 

Laura Somoggi: Feminist Leadership, Decolonization and Resilience

Laura Somoggi, Co-CEO at Womanity, is an international development expert with a focus on gender equity, social impact, and trust-based philanthropy. A feminist and strong advocate for devolution of power through equitable partnerships, she has overseen programmes with a presence in 15 countries. Coming from a colonised country and a family of refugees, the decolonisation of knowledge and development is especially personal to her.
Laura joined Womanity in 2017 to lead their efforts to prevent violence against women and girls. Her diverse career includes a decade in journalism in Brazil and another decade managing global partnerships in the corporate sector with international NGOs and UN agencies. Laura also serves on the board of Right to Be (formerly Hollaback!).
In this episode, Julia and Laura speak about hope and resilience in the face of backlash, the status of gender equality around the world and about decolonizing development. Laura shares her own stories - including about her career move - and talks about the work of Womanity at large and in Afghanistan specifically. 
Learn more about Womanity here.

Solidarity Studio: Amé Atsu David on Solidarity for Adolescent Girls

Amé Atsu David is the Regional Co-Director for Africa at the Global Fund for Children. 
Global Fund for Children partners with local organizations around the world to help children and youth reach their full potential and advance their rights.
Amé is a human rights activist and an advocate for adolescent girls. She joins us in the Girls' Globe Solidarity Studio and shares her call to action and her thoughts on feminist solidarity. 
Global Fund for Children is a member of Girls' Globe, read more about their work here. 
 

Solidarity Studio: Neha Gurung on Statelessness

Neha Gurung is a human rights lawyer from Nepal.
Neha is the Co-founder and Head of Legal Aid and Advocacy at the Citizenship Affected People's Network, Nepal. She is also currently the Co-Lead at the Global Movement Against Statelessness.
In the Girls' Globe Solidarity Studio, Neha shares parts of her story. She speaks about how she was affected by statelessness and her calls to action for others. Neha shares what feminist solidarity looks like to her. 

Solidarity Studio: Lopa Banerjee on UN Women, Generation Equality and Feminist Solidarity

Lopa Banerjee is the Director at the Civil Society Division at UN Women. 
In this episode Lopa Banerjee speaks with Felogene Anumo in the Girls' Globe Solidarity Studio. They speak about civil society engagement, the Generation Equality Forum and anti-rights movements. Lopa shares what brings her hope - the leadership of young feminists around the world - and what feminist solidarity means to her. 
 

Solidarity Studio: Jona Turalde on Teen Mothers and Youth Leadership

Jona Turalde is the Community, Operations, and Resource Mobilization Lead of Transform Education, the young feminist coalition hosted by UN Girls Education Initiative.
She's a young feminist activist from the Philippines, who has worked in key leadership positions on various governing boards and advisory roles of international development organizations and feminist movements including SheDecides, International Planned Parenthood Federation, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, and FRIDA, the Young Feminist Fund.
In this episode, Felogene Anumo speaks with Jona Turalde about what inspired her to start working with sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Philippines, her activism, calls to action and what solidarity means. 

In the Deep End: Oyidiya Oji on AI, Digital Rights and Anti-Racism

Oyidiya Oji is the Policy and Advocacy Advisor for Digital Rights at the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). She focuses on advocacy in regards to AI and related digital rights portfolios. She defends a transversal and sustainable relationship with EU institutions with a racial equality lens. Previously, she researched and mapped projects of resistance and reappropriation of technology, with a special focus on AI. 
In this episode Oyidiay Oji and Julia Wiklander speak about the linkages between AI, digital rights and racism - and it’s links to the Olympics in Paris.
Oyidiya Oji shares a personal story of growing up and her journey into working in the anti-racism space and her interest in digital rights. Oyidiya highlights the importance of understanding the impact of technology on marginalized communities and the need for a human rights approach in safeguarding digital rights. She talks about the challenges in implementing legislation and the role of civil society in shaping policies.
Julia and Oyidiya speak about the current situation in Paris, and what happened in Rio during the Olympics there. Oyidiya emphasizes the need for global solidarity in addressing digital rights issues and shares practical tips for being vigilant about technology use.
Learn more about the European Network Against Racism here: https://www.enar-eu.org/