Afia Appiah is a social development expert with a focus on ensuring equity across gender, economic status, age and ability. She is a strong advocate for women taking up roles in public office where they can be instrumental in policy development and implementation to guarantee equitable access to development opportunities. Afia has worked with women’s groups and associations to build the capacity of women to venture into and survive in public elected office and continues to work with election management and monitoring institutions to ensure smooth, transparent, safe and equitable elections across Africa.

Ebere Ifendu is a Lawyer, Chartered Mediator and Conciliator and Gender Advocate. She won the inaugural 2022 International Women’s Day Awards on Excellence in Political Leadership and Governance. The Award was convened by the British High Commission, The European Union Delegation and the Embassies of France, Germany and United States of America in partnership with the UN Women and UNDP. 

Ebere is a member of the Governing Council of the Federal Polythenic Daura, Katsina State.  She served as a member of the Presidential Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee. She was the National Publicity Secretary of labour party, Nigeria. Ebere is the first woman to be elected to this position in Nigeria. She was the National Women Leader of the Labour Party before she took the bold step to contest for the post of Publicity Secretary, a position reserved for men. She is a member of the Technical Committee of the Hon Minister of Women Affairs on Private Sector. She is the Chairperson of the Women Political Participation Technical Working Group. She is a renowned Party Management Strategist and is the President, Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), a non – Partisan Organization with a United Nations Economic and Social Council Status (ECOSOC). Ebere is a member of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), a global Network initiated by the UN Women. She is a member of the Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) and serves as the Executive Director WDN Africa – Nigeria.  She is appointed a Senior Special Adviser to the Senate Minority Leader on Gender and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Her dream for Nigerian and indeed African Women in general, is to see that they are appreciated and given their rightful place as strong, intelligent and hard-working women, who have been key players in nation building. She is a passionate advocate for gender equality, equity, justice and human rights. Her motivation is knowing that her contribution towards Women Empowerment and Political Inclusion is yielding result, as well as being able to support the less privileged in the society. Ebere is also the dedicated and loving mother of two sons. 

Perry Aritua is the Executive Director of Women’s Democracy Network-Uganda Chapter (WDN-U), Aritua is a Lawyer and Advocate in the Courts of Judicature in Uganda and also holds a Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies. Her work has enabled her to get more women elected into decision making positions and enhanced their performance especially in district councils. Her advancement of gender and women’s rights with district women councilors has increased the numbers of women elected into specific leadership positions in district councils and improved gender mainstreaming in district councils especially in the West Nile region of Uganda. Perry’s work with women leagues of political parties in Uganda has enabled them to develop strategic plans, gender responsive policies and to advocate for women’s rights and gender equality within political parties.

Perry has empowered women outside politics who aspire for leadership in associations like Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU). Perry through WDN-U has supported the formation of women organizations like Women in Politics Forum in Nigeria which currently pursues similar objectives to WDN-U. Perry has also facilitated the establishment of WDN- Zimbabwe, WDN-Kenya and WDN-Africa.

Perry has worked with various local and international organizations, Parliament, Local Governments and Political Parties to enhance the knowledge and skills of women and youth in political parties and political party leaders and Leaders in Parliament and Local Governments to address gender inequality through their leadership positions in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Zambia and Malawi. Some of her work has involved facilitating processes that have led to the formulation of key policies for gender equality. Currently, Perry serves as the Vice Chairperson of the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) where she represents the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers.

Sally Ncube is a dynamic and creative feminist development practitioner with 18 years of advancing women’s rights, gender and social inclusion; women’s leadership development, coordinating advocacy movement building and collective actions through working with non-governmental organisations, government institutions, private companies, think tanks, community leaders and groups, faith based networks, youth and women’s movements  in  Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, South Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Sudan and Cameroon. 

To strengthen, nurture and support women’s leadership development in public and private spaces, Sally is the founder of Sally Women’s Institute established in 2013 and to date offers training, coaching, advocacy and solidarity support for over 1 7820 women leaders from civil society, political parties, faith-based networks, trade unions, media and social movements. Sally is also passionate about women’s political leadership development and gender responsive policy making and she volunteers her expertise as a member of Women’s Democracy Network, founder and Executive Director of Women’s Democracy Network Zimbabwe and one of the co-founders of Women’s Democracy Network Africa.  

She also contributes to movement building and collective advocacy strategy and interventions for the Zimbabwe women’s movement as National Coordinator for Women’ Coalition of Zimbabwe, a national membership-based network of women’s rights organisations and activists in Zimbabwe promoting women’s rights, empowerment and participation in development processes at community, national regional and international level. 

 Sally provides multi stakeholder coordination and liaison for policy formulation, implementation, review and oversight strategy development, research, advocacy campaigns and emergency response design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; resource mobilization and grant administration leadership. She also facilitates social inclusion for women and youth from marginalized communities including persons with disabilities, LGBT+ community, minority ethnical groups, persons living in informal settlements amongst others.  She trains and provides technical support for civil society corporate governance covering institutional governance systems development, implementation, oversight, leadership development and coaching, advocacy, movement building, resource mobilisation and gender responsive policy making and on-going technical support for community-based organisations working with marginalised communities and projects implementing partners at community, national, regional and international level. 

She holds Master of Science in Development Studies (Women’s University in Africa), Bachelor of Arts (Hons) History and Development Studies (Midlands State University), Diploma in Women’s Campaign School (Yale University), Diploma in Public Relations (Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations) and Diploma in Project Planning and Management (Christian College of Southern Africa). 

Shamira Mshangama is a young feminist and activist of women’s rights. She was a Vice President at Dar es Salaam University Students Organization (DARUSO) from 2016 to 2017. Mshangama is a mentor and role model for many girls in Tanzania and founded Mwanamke na Uongozi, an NGO working to inspire girls and women in both rural and urban areas to participate in leadership and decision making in all spheres of life. She is also a member of a national youth council of the ruling party CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) and a host and coordinator of the Superwoman Event in Tanzania which gives awards to champions of gender equality.

Edipcia Dubón is the Executive Director of the Bridges for Development Foundation in Costa Rica, member of the Women’s Dialogue for Democracy and former Deputy of the National Assembly for the Sandinista Renovation Movement (illegally dismissed by the Ortega regime). She actively participates in different spaces of civil society articulation in Nicaragua. Edipcia is a member of various international platforms such as Democratic Solidarity, Ibero-American Network of Women Leaders and the Women’s Democracy Network. She is a PhD Candidate in Government and Public Policy at the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and acquired a master’s in applied politics, specializing in macroeconomic analysis.

Raquel V Munt is a Lawyer (UBA) Pre-judicial Mediator (MJYDH) Community Mediator (School of Law and Social Sciences, UBA).  

Raquel has a specialization in Conflict Resolution Systems (UNLZ – School of Law) and Advanced Studies in Juvenile Justice (Interfaculty Center on Children’s Rights CIDE, University of Geneva, Switzerland). 

She is currently an official of the Judiciary of the City of Buenos Aires and is a member of the Center for Citizenship Studies (CIVES), which operates within the Law School of the University of Palermo.  She is a consultant and trainer in Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, Facilitation and Citizen Participation. She has vast experience in the delivery of Seminars on Political Leadership in the Key of Gender and Women’s Human Rights, and other topics of her specialty. She teaches in the Political and Social Leadership Program for women at the School of Politics and Government of the UCA and in the Specialization “Leaders for a new Governance” at the Institute of Political Training and Public Management of the Government of the CABA (IFPYGP).  

Raquel is Executive Director of the Argentine Chapter of Women’s Democracy Network, founded in 2006 with the aim of facilitating women’s access to politics with parity. In this capacity, she promotes the civic/political empowerment of women through trainings such as the Leadership Schools; Trainings for candidates and the Academy of Parliamentary Leadership with a Gender Perspective in alliance with the IRI and the US Embassy in Argentina; as well as numerous activism actions towards the achievement of gender equality, strengthening the transforming role of women in their communities. She is a Member of the WDN LAC Board. 

From 2016 to 2020 she held the position of National Director of Mediation and Participatory Methods of Conflict Resolution under the Ministry of Justice and DH of the Argentine Republic. From there she promoted several projects related to MARC; the federal strengthening of Community Mediation; she created the Federal Network of Mediators with a Gender Perspective in the framework of the National Action Plan of the Argentine Republic for the implementation of Resolution 1325 (2000) “Women, Peace and Security” of the United Nations Security Council. She is the author of several publications on the subject. 

From 2012 to 2015 she was General Director of Social Inclusion of the Secretary of Habitat and Inclusion of the Government of CABA where she sought to promote citizen participation in the transformation and urban and social inclusion of the villas, transitional housing nuclei and housing complexes of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, favoring the active role of the community in the processes of habitat improvement. 

Silvia Rita Souza is a Social Educator, specialist in Human Resources Planning and Development, in Innovation and Social Technology and in Social Work, Education, Diversity and Social Inclusion. She is a former National Secretary for Combating Violence Against Women in Brazil and author of the book A WOMAN CANDIDATE – Competing to Win, and various publications on women and political power. Silvia was a Finalist of the National VIVA 2019 Award, from Marie Claire Magazine, Editora Globo and the Avon Institute, which recognizes national leaders who act to change the reality around the various forms of violence against women. She develops activities in the Women’s Secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies with public policies with gender transversality, advising on the drafting of laws aimed at guaranteeing the human rights of girls and women. Silvia is a founding member of the global Women’s Democracy Network-WDN and Executive Director of the Brazil Chapter, where more than 2,000 women have been trained with tools to strengthen leadership in the social, political and economic areas. She is a speaker/facilitator on public policies with a gender focus, training candidates for elective positions, female empowerment, women’s social networks, among others. 

Asmahan Al-Eryani has a Bachelor of Social Sciences, Post-University Management Diploma. She is a Certified International Trainer, Adviser in the Field of Good Governance and Gender, President of the CEO at Injaz Foundation for Development, Director General of the Training Department at the Anti-Corruption Commission, Consultant in governance and gender equality programs with international organizations such as the United Nations Development Office and the Germany Technical Cooperation Office and CARE. Asmahan has trained hundreds of different segments of youth and women in different fields such as gender, good governance and peace building, and is an advisor to a number of local organizations, a member of local and international alliances, such as the Resolution 1325 coalition Women, Peace and Security “with the beyond borders women .a member of the Agora coalition of the United Nations Office of Women Asmahan. She is also a member of the Yemeni Women Solidarity and Member of the National Accord for Peace.