Lejla Hasandedic-Dapo
United Religions Initiative (URI) Europe Liaison Officer, board member of European Interfaith Youth Network (EIYN), Religions for Peace
Sima Samar
Sima Samar is an advocate for the poor, an educator of the marginalised and defender of the human rights of all in Afghanistan. She has established and nurtured the Shuhada Organization that, in 2012, operated more than one hundred schools and 15 clinics and hospitals dedicated to providing education and healthcare, particularly focusing on women and girls. She served in the Interim Administration of Afghanistan and established the first-ever Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
Samar recently established the non-profit Gawharshad Institute of Higher Education (GSIHE). The Institute initially offers training in the fields of political science, political sociology, economic planning, as well as leadership and administration in education. It aims to provide greater opportunities for women, poor and marginalised students through tuition subsidies and scholarships.
Various aspects of Samar’s work have been recognised over the years by several international awards, including the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership and the 2004 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. Additionally, she was conferred with a Doctor of Humane Letters (hon.) by Brown University in May 2005.
Between 2004-2019, she chaired the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission that holds human rights violators accountable, a commitment that put her own life at great risk. During 2019, she was appointed Special Envoy and State Minister for Human Rights and International Relations in Afghanistan.
Day 2: Plenary II: Advancing Gender Equality - Women, Faith & Diplomacy 2020
Speakers
Maria Cristina Kaveri Cantoni
Member executive board, Religions for Peace Italy
Chairperson, RfP European Women of Faith Network
Ms. Ana Maria Daou
Community Engagement Senior Coordinator, Adyan Foundation
Deputy Coordinator, International Youth Committee
Ms. Fatima Hallal
Junior Researcher, Hartford Seminary-Interreligious Relations
Member, International Youth Committee
H.E. John Cardinal Onaiyekan
Archbishop of Abuja, Archdiocese of Abuja
Honorary President, Religions for Peace
Mirian Akuaba De-Souza
Youth Representative, Ghana Conference of Religions for Peace
Member, International Youth Committee
Prof. Evelin Lindner
Founding Director and President, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, Germany
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati
President, Divine Shakti Foundation
Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance
Prof. Dr. Riem Spielhaus
Professor of Islamic Studies and Education, George-August University Göttingen
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik
Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)
Irmgard Maria Fellner
Director for Cultural Relations Policy and Deputy Head of the Directorate-General for Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office
Nihal Saad
Chief of Cabinet and Spokesperson to the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC)
Renz C. Argao
Director, Argao Center for Psychological Services
Coordinator, Religions for Peace International Youth Committee
Grandmother Marie-Josée Rankin-Tardif
President, Kina8at Together
Elder from the Anicinape (Algonquin) tradition
H.E. Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis
Metropolitan of France, Ecumenical Patriarchate Religions for Peace
Prof. Takaaki David Ito
Professor of Spiritual Care at the Graduate School of Applied Religious Studies
Annette Schavan
Chairmanship of the Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society
Laura Vargas
Inter-Religious Council of Peru – Religions for Peace, Interfaith Rainforest Initiative
Bishop Munib Younan
Bishop Emeritus President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Honorary President, Religions for Peace
Prof. Anantanand Rambachan
Professor of Religion, St. Olaf College
Co-President, Religions for Peace
Karima Bennoune
UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights
Homer G. Angelo & Ann Berryhill Endowed Chair & Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis
School of Law
Rabbi David Rosen, KSG, CBE
International Director, Department of Interreligious Affairs in the American Jewish Committee
Co-President, Religions for Peace
Dr. Suphatmet Yunyasit
Representative of Thailand to the ASEAN Women of Peace Registry; Human Rights and Peace Studies, Faculty, Mahidol University; Secretary-General, Religions for Peace Interreligious Council of Thailand; Member, RfP International Women’s Coordinating Committee
Düzen Tekkal
Journalist, Filmmaker, War Reporter, Human Rights Activist,
Founder, Hawar Help and German Dream
Rev. Dr. Antje Jackelen
Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala Primate of the Church of Sweden
Co-Presiden, Religions for Peace
Bishop Margot Käßmann
Former Chairperson, Evangelical Church of Germany
Co-President, Religions for Peace
Rev. Sr. Agatha Ogochukwu Chikelue
Nun of the Daughters of Mother Mary of Mercy; Co-Chair Nigerian & African Women of Faith Network
Executive Director Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace (COFP)
Chair, Religions for Peace International Women’s Coordinating Committee
H.E. Ib Petersen
Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
H.E. Gillian Triggs
Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
H.E. Michelle Müntefering
Minister of State for International Cultural Policy at the Foreign Office, Germany
Rev. Kosho Niwano
President-Designate, Rissho Kosei-Kai, Co-Moderator, Religions for Peace, Buddhist, Japan