Powerful Voices
This article was originally published by NPR.
A group called the Initiative for Inclusive Security, which recently hosted its eighth annual conference in Washington, wants to increase political participation among women in “high conflict” and post-conflict areas. The conferences allow women leaders to learn skills from each other as well as from other political and policy professionals. This year delegations came from Colombia, Nepal, Uganda and Sudan. Individuals came from Liberia and Iraq.
We honestly cannot tell you whether the women we interviewed would be considered “power players” back home. One, Amna Ahmed Ali, was born in Darfur and was one of the first women graduates of the University of Khartoum. She is a civil servant who now works on development projects in Darfur. Mariam Alsadig Almadi, quoted above, is a former pediatrician who gave up medicine for politics. She is now a communications officer for the Umma National Party, a secular Islamic centrist party (and an opposition party).
We thought the opportunity to hear from women in positions of responsibility in that region was so rare that it was worth it just to hear their voices and opinions.
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