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Different but Equal 

From October 26, 2021 until October 29, 2021Thursday, October 26, at 3:30 p.m. Friday, October 29, at 11:30 a.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. Thursday, October 26, at 3:30 p.m. Friday, October 29, at 11:30 a.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached. Mask use is required at all times.

Casa Árabe is hosting a meeting of the “Raisa” program, organized by the Women for Africa Foundation on 26 and 29 October at its headquarters in Madrid. It will be bringing together 20 women leaders from African and Mediterranean countries. 

Women are diverse in general. So are their approaches, perspectives and demands, and above all the environments in which they live, and this inevitably affects their thinking and actions.

But there are many things which, despite physical distance, different cultures, beliefs and situations, unite all committed women. Of course, we all want the inequality gap separating men and women to close, and for women to achieve a status of full citizenship all over the world.

As part of the “Raisa” program promoted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAEUEC), which is bringing 20 women leaders from 20 African and Mediterranean countries to Spain, the Women for Africa Foundation is carrying out an activity titled ”Different But Equal.” In this frank, open dialogue with Spanish women who are outstanding in their professions or fields of activity on the keys to their diversity and similarity, they will be presenting their own conclusions to us at Casa Árabe on Tuesday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m.

This meeting of the “Raisa” program will also be ending at Casa Árabe on Friday, October 29, at 11:30 a.m. at an event where these 20 leading women will discuss the image they have of our country.

Both sessions can be watched live on our YouTube channel.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE 

The participants are mainly women between the ages of 25 and 45, with acknowledged leadership and varied professional profiles: political leaders, civil servants, journalists, scholars, directors of non-governmental and non-profit organizations, businesswomen, human rights defenders, scientists, mediators in peace and security processes, and representatives from the business world.

Rosária A. Vieira. (Cape Verde). Vieira is the Director of the Special Needs Development Service of Cape Verde’s Ministry of Family and Social Inclusiveness and President of the Association of Special Education Professionals in Cape Verde.

Amal Abd El Kader. (Egypt). A gender expert, she is head of the National Council for Women’s Complaints Bureau, which deals with issues related to the abuse of women.

Mariama Abdou Gabo. (Niger). A doctor, feminist, blogger and social sensitivity trainer. Currently, she is the president of the Network of Young Ambassadors for Reproductive Health and Family Planning in Niger.

Hafasat Abiola-Costello. (Nigeria). An internationally acknowledged figure in the field of Human and Civil Rights, her many responsibilities include being president of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND).

Kadijah Amoah. (Ghana). The CEO of Aker Energy Ghana, a Ghanaian subsidiary of the Norwegian oil and gas company, she is the first woman to lead a company in this sector in Ghana.

Houda Babah Sid M’hamed. (Mauritania). With a PhD in Physics, she is currently the director of the University Center for Cartography and Remote Sensing (CUCT).

Elisa Samuel Boerekamp. (Mozambique). A career judge, she is the director of the Judicial School of Mozambique and a role model for the EU in the field of fighting corruption.

Diaka Camara. (Guinea Conakry). A cCommunicator and journalist, Camara runs the agency CBC Worldwide COM & PROD. In March 2021, she launched the campaign “Let’s break the silence” against gender violence, with a major impact in her country.

Rajae el Khamsi. (Morocco). A researching professor at the Mohamed V University in Rabat, she holds a PhD in Sociology and is an expert on gender and migration, feminism and identity.

Ilwad Elman. (Somalia). A Somali-Canadian social activist, Elman is the Director of Programs and Development at the Elman Center for Peace and Human Rights in Mogadishu.

Yosra Frawes. (Tunisia). A lawyer, human rights activist and feminist, Frawes is the former president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) and director of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) office of the International Federation for Human Rights.

Salaima Ishap El-Khalifa. (Sudan). A child protection, gender-based violence and human rights activist, she is the director of the Unit to Fight Gender Violence in the Transitional Government.

Amina Izarouken. (Algeria). A feminist activist, in recent times Izarouken has worked in certain groups that have thrived in the wake of the “hirak,” including FACE (Femme algérienne pour le changement pour l’Egalité).

Julienne Lusenge. (Democratic Republic of Congo). A Congolese women’s rights activist, she is a co-founder and the president of the NGO Women’s Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and director of the Congolese Women’s Fund (FFC).

Oumou Niaré. (Mali). The President of the Court of High Instance for Commune II in Bamako, she is now highly focused on the fight against human trafficking in Mali.

Melene Rossouw. (South Africa). A lawyer and women’s rights activist, Rossouw is a member of the African Women’s Leadership Network, a movement supported by UN Women and the African Union.

Lubna Tahtamouni. (Jordan). A biologist known for her work in cancer research and stem cell research for neuro-degenerative diseases.

Laura Tall. (Senegal). With a PhD in Ecology, Tall mainly focuses on the agro-ecology sector, working at the IPAR Think Tank, specializing in agricultural research to analyze the effects of climate change, in addition to others, leading a group of 30 researchers.

Sehin Teferra. (Ethiopia). A feminist activist who especially promotes the idea of an Ethiopian identity, Teferra is a co-founder of the Setaweet Feminist Group, an Ethiopian network that aims to spur change in gender equality awareness.

Anne W. Ieri. (Kenya). A lawyer with 15 years of experience in the fight against gender violence and electoral mediation, she is the President of FIDA (International Federation of Women Lawyers.