In episode 20 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud Anware Mnasri, Judge in the administrative court and co-founder of Thala Solidaire and the League of Women Voters 00:00 Introduction 01:50 Women’s Impact on Tunisia’s New Constitution 04:04 No Going Back: Tunisia’s Modified Personal Status Code 09:57 Gender Quota and Achieving Transitional Justice 15:46 Civil Societies’ Role in Training Women Ministers 18:01 Combating Violence Against Women in Politics 28:45 The...

In episode 19 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah, Social Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Author and Film Producer and the Founder and Chairwoman of Intisar Foundation focusing on the mental health of women in the Arab World. 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Work, passion and vision 08:58 Drama therapy and its valuable tools 13:42 A personal experience of Kuwait’s Invasion 17:22 Psychological health and its impact on peace-building efforts in the...

In episode 18 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Lina Abi Rafeh, Gender rights activist, author, and Senior Advisor for Global Women’s Rights at the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University 00:00 Introduction 01:48 Inspiration and Motives for Years of Human Rights Activism 03:56 Pinpointing Entry Points: How to Make a Difference? 09:20 50 Years of Arab Feminism, a book by Lina Abi Rafeh 14:48 Main Challenges of Mainstreaming the WPS...

In episode 15 of the #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Sanaa Al-Banawi, Knowledge Management Specialist on WPS Agenda. 0:00 Introduction 1:30 Current Work and Main Concerns of the Jordanian National Commission 3:00 Deciding on the Nation's Priorities 05:52 Personal Motives and the Means to Engage in this Field 08:55 A Success Story 11:47 Shaping Students’ Mindsets 14:17 Overcoming Personal Hardships at Work 17:44 Creating Opportunities for the Youth 19:29 The Quota...

In episode 14 of the #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Aleksandra Dier and Azadeh Moaveni about the report: “Women’s participation in local mediation: Lessons from Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen” Read the report here: https://bit.ly/3PcSBuv Aleksandra Dier is the Regional Advisor on WPS in the MENA for UN Women and Azadeh Moaveni who directs the Gender and Conflict Project at Crisis group. 0:00 Introduction 1:33 Women’s Participation in Local Mediation 4:28 Major...

In episode 13 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Faten Chalhoub, Mediator at the Professional Centre for Mediation - USJ, Beirut. 0:00 Introduction 1:37 Concept of local mediation 3:16 The connection between local mediation and regional/national issues 4:31 Main risks facing women mediators 9:54 Developing mediation skills 14:22 A personal experience 18:00 Building a nation 20:26 Finding a common ground NB: The views and opinions expressed in this...

In episode 11 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Batoul Mufreh, Project coordinator at the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies - Masarat 00:00 Introduction 01:02 Batoul’s battles and challenges she faced 04:25 Obstacles while building peace and bridges in Palestine 09:53 International community’s role in Palestine regarding the WPS agenda 14:07 Steps needed to protect women in the field 17:30 Effectiveness of the National Action...

In episode 10 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Muneera Al Khalifa, Executive Director of Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies. 00:00 Introduction 01:58 How Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies saw light 06:20 Equal Opportunities Committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bahrain 12:00 Applying a gender lens to the codes guiding our day-to-day activities 14:49 The importance of political will for...

In episode 9 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Sara Minkara, Special Advisor on International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State. 00:00 Introduction 4:17 The challenges Sara faced 6:16 Realizing being blind is not a disability 9:32 Accessibility for people with disabilities 13:22 Addressing the issue of peace and security 17:06 Inclusion for people with disabilities 18:51 Legislation, laws, and inclusivity 24:41 The importance of inclusion...

In episode 8 of The #Diplowomen Podcast, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Rachel Dore-Weeks, head of UN Women Lebanon. 00:00 Introduction 01:29 #TheMissingPeace campaign 03:33 Women representation in politics, national dialogue, and peace building efforts 06:29 Barriers to women’s participation in politics and national dialogue 10:10 #TheMissingPeace messaging 15:55 Women’s Quota in the Parliamentary Election Law 18:22 Needed steps to increase Women participation NB: The views...

00:00 Introduction 00:53 On the recent Iraqi elections 05:12 Women in Iraqi elections 2021 and the Quota system 07:32 Barriers to women in politics 11:11 Women in peace and security 13:20 Public discourse in Iraq 17:13 Elevating women’s voices and funding opportunities 22:46 Role of Iraqi Expats in empowering women In this special two-part episode on Iraq, Karma Ekmekji thinks out loud with Mina Al-Oraibi, Editor-in-Chief of The National. NB: The views and opinions expressed in this...

0.00 Intro 0.57 Who is Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun 1.38 Zineb’s journey 13:14 Women’s liberation through laws 16:00 What unifies Arab women 18:54 How to get to the UN 26:43 Gender inequality in the workplace and the pay gap 31.52 Better representation of women in peace building Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun is the Former UN Resident Coordinator to Kuwait and Albania. She served at the United Nations Fund for Women, UNIFEM, (now part of UN Women) as the organization’s Representative in...

0:00 Intro 2:00 What is happening in Libya? 7:53 Change-phobic 14:14 'Together We Build it' 19:20 Friday Democracy Meetings 28:52 The Role of Women in Libya 36:16 Inclusion 44:19 Peacebuilding 46:32 The Long Run Video edition available on YouTube. BIO: Hajer Sharief is a 29 -year-old Libyan active woman peacebuilder who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize owing to her humanitarian work that she began at the age of 19 only. She advised the Security Council on issues regarding youth....

0:00 Intro 1:29 Journey into Peace-building 8:49 What is Track II Diplomacy? 15:18 What is the Message? 23:46 Overcoming Separate Rooms 29:50 What Happened to Regional Protests? 35:44 Work in Dialogue 42:35 Where is Peace-building Going? Video edition available on YouTube. Randa Slim is the Director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute and a non-resident fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced and International Studies...

0:00 Intro 1:55 Who is Rana Ghanem? 18:10 What's going on in Yemen? 25:39 Why are you in Cairo? 31:43 The Role of Yemeni Women 33:57 A Message to Arab Women Click to watch: https://youtu.be/QMf355sGN5M Rana Ghanem is a Yemeni political activist. She is the Assistant Secretary of the Nasserist Unionist People's Organization in Yemen, and the only women in the Yemeni government’s delegation to the #Stockholm peace talks in 2018. NB: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those...

0:00 Intro 2:47 How do we really do this? 5:08 Board on Mediation 9:28 What are Arab governments doing? 12:52 Putting Issues in the Forefront 18:54 Jordan 27:09 Peacekeeping Operations 29:41 Advice for Men Video edition available on YouTube. Nasser Judeh was appointed to the Senate of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 9 July 2017. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (later Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates) from 2009 to 2017 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2015 to 2017. He...

0:00 Intro 4:13 Media Role 10:33 A Voice for Women 11:30 Who is JanetBot? 18:54 Stories from the Ground 23:05 Arab Spring 2.0 Video edition: https://youtu.be/9JQnxe8_LPg Roula Khalaf is Editor of the Financial Times. She was previously deputy editor from 2016 to 2020, overseeing a range of newsroom initiatives and award winning editorial projects and leading a global network of over 100 foreign correspondents. Before taking up the deputy editor role, Khalaf was the FT's foreign editor and...