GJS Speakers

The Gender Justice Summit will bring together a diverse and dynamic network of speakers from Canadian organizations and representatives from Oxfam's international program partners in Africa and Latin America, including:

ALEXANDER XAVIER MUÑOZ CHAVEZ

Association of Men Against Violence, Nicaragua

The Association of Men Against Violence was formed in 2000 to work with men, especially young men, to explore traditional concepts of masculinity and how they relate to violence against women and HIV and AIDS. An important part of the work is education, and they have developed a training manual to use with groups of men to promote reflection and personal change on issues such as violence, sexual and reproductive rights, responsible parenting, gender roles, and housework. They work in alliance with women’s organizations and others. 

AYMARA PINEDA

Promoter, “Sixth Sense” TV show, Puntos de Encuentro, Nicaragua

Founded in Nicaragua in 1991, the primary objective of Puntos de Encuentro is to promote an environment in which women and young people can exercise their rights. Puntos uses TV (including the show “Sixth Sense”), radio and a magazine to promote individual change and collective action to question domination, subordination and marginalization, particularly with regard to sexual and reproductive health as well as immigration, HIV and AIDS, rape, violence against women, racism and drug abuse. The flagship project, Somos Diferentes, Somos Iguales (We’re Different, We’re Equal), combines popular media with multi-sector alliances, local capacity building and leadership training. Oxfam Canada began funding Puntos in 1996, contributing to its work on violence against women, most recently by supporting the Boletinamagazine, which is a key element of Puntos’s overall communications strategy. 

BOGALECH GEBRE

Executive Director, Kembatta Mentti-Gezzima Tope, Ethiopia

Kembatta Mentti-Gezzima Tope (KMG) is a women-centered, human rights and integrated community development non-governmental organization established in 1997 by Ethiopians who believe the quality of life for both men and women will improve if women are empowered and their talents and intelligence are nurtured. The organization works to create consciousness among communities in the prevention of female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, bride abduction, widow inheritances, early marriage and HIV and AIDS, and in the promotion of gender equality, equity, democracy and human rights. Oxfam Canada’s partnership with KMG began in 2002 with a small grant to establish a women’s business centre. In 2003, KMG became one of three pilot project partners involved in Oxfam Canada’s Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) program and participated in Oxfam Canada’s Unwrapped program in 2008.

BONGI SIBANDA

Manager, Bulawayo office, Musasa Project, Zimbabwe

Musasa Project is a non-governmental organization founded in 1988 in Zimbabwe. Its vision is to have a society in which women live free of gender-based violence and are able to fully participate in development. It is governed by an elected all-women, five-member board and works to change beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, laws and policies in order to reduce gender-based violence through public education and training, advocacy and research, counselling, legal advice and providing shelter for survivors of violence. Oxfam Canada started working with the Musasa Project in Harare in 1988 and directly with the Bulawayo office in 2003. Oxfam Canada has provided support to Musasa’s work on gender planning and analysis in livelihoods, HIV and AIDS and environment programs in Mangwe district of Matabeleleland. 

BRENDA GATTO

Health Policy Analyst, Native Women’s Association of Canada

The Native Women’s Association of Canada is founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of First Nations and Métis women within First Nation, Métis and Canadian societies. Brenda grew up on the Six Nations of the Grand River territory in Southern Ontario. She is a licensed registered nurse and has dedicated most of her life to the promotion of health and well-being of Aboriginal women and children. Over the past 25 years, Brenda has actively participated in the movement to re-introduce midwifery and home birthing as viable options for women and identified the need for Aboriginal-specific birth centres. 

CAROLINE SWEETMAN

Editor, Oxfam Gender and Development Journal, Great Britain

Gender and Development is co-published by Oxfam Great Britain and Taylor and Francis and seeks to support and promote development interventions that further gender equality as a means and a goal. It is the only journal published to focus specifically on international gender and development issues and to explore the connections between gender and development initiatives and feminist perspectives. Caroline is trained as a journalist and lived and worked in Lesotho, South Africa, from 1988 to 1992, where she founded and co-edited a UNICEF-sponsored development media project, Shoeshoe. 

DOROTHY NGOMA

Member of the W8 - Executive Director, National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi

Oxfam International’s W8 is a group of eight women who have dedicated their lives to fighting for health and education in their own countries and share one message and one voice: universal access to free health and education is the most effective way to reach the Millennium Development Goals. Dorothy has more than 30 years of experience working as a nurse, training nurses and lobbying on behalf of nurses in Malawi. The National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi is an independent, non-partisan, non-governmental union and professional organization representing nurses and midwives and the health-care service in Malawi. Its goals are to safeguard nurses/midwives’ professional, organizational and socioeconomic interests and to influence nursing education and nursing practice. 

JEANETTE URQUILLA

Executive Director, Organization of Salvadorian Women, El Salvador

The Organization of Salvadorian Women (ORMUSA) is an autonomous feminist organization in El Salvador working with poor rural and urban women, including maquila workers. One of its many activities is to monitor working conditions in the factories of the maquilas (free trade zones) with a particular focus on violence against women. ORMUSA is the facilitator of the National Alliance on Sexual and Reproductive Health in El Salvador and an active member of other key networks in the region. Oxfam Canada has been funding ORMUSA since 2003 for institutional support and the maquila program as well as specific initiatives, such as participation in the World Social Forum. We also provided substantial support in emergency response after Tropical Storm Stan.

JESSICA YEE

Executive Director, Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Canada

The Native Youth Sexual Health Network works with Indigenous communities across Canada and the United States to advocate for and help develop sexuality and reproductive-health education programs. The Toronto-based organization works on issues of healthy sexuality, cultural competency, youth empowerment, reproductive justice, and sex positivity by and for native youth. Jessica is a strong believer in the power of the youth voice. In 2009 she received the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction award and was recently named one of 20 International Women’s Health Heroes by Our Bodies/Our Blog.

KATE McINTURFF

Executive Director, Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA), Canada

The Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) is a dynamic coalition of over 75 Canadian women’s equality-seeking and related organizations. FAFIA’s mandate is to further women’s equality in Canada through domestic implementation of its’ international human rights commitments.

LINDA ROSS

President/CEO, Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Newfoundland and Labrador

Linda has held the position of President and CEO of the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Newfoundland and Labrador (PACSW), since April 2009. Previous to this appointment she worked in international development with Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO) and Oxfam Canada, with which she held a number of positions for almost 25 years. Ross retired from the position of Team Leader of Policy and Outreach with Oxfam Canada to take the position with the Advisory Council, the primary role of which is to act in an advisory capacity to the provincial government on issues affecting the status of women in Newfoundland and Labrador. During her career, Linda has lived and travelled in a number of developing countries. Her experience includes work on women’s rights and gender equality. 

LORENA AGUILAR

Global Senior Gender Advisor, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Costa Rica

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is a neutral forum in which governments, non-governmental organizations, scientists and business and local communities collaborate to find pragmatic solutions to conservation and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings organizations together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practices. Founded in 1948 as the world’s first global environmental organization, it is the largest professional global conservation network. Lorena’s efforts toward sustainable and equitable development include more than a decade of practical experience in projects involving public policy development and design and eight years in the incorporation of social and gender issues into the use and conservation of natural resources.

LYSA JOHN

Global Campaigns Coordinator, Global Campaign Against Poverty, India

Lysa is based in India and has more than a decade’s work in the field of Governance & Advocacy. Between 2006 and 2009, Lysa was Campaign Coordinator with ‘Wada Na Todo Abhiyan’ (Keep the Promises Campaign) - one of the largest civil society networks in India today. In August 2009, Lysa took on the role of Campaign Director with GCAP – the Global Call to Action against Poverty – which is one of the largest civil society networks in the world, in which Oxfam is included. With a presence across 100+ countries, the work of GCAP is focused on holding governments accountable to address the structural causes of poverty and inequality, and enabling the representation of traditionally excluded communities in the institutions and processes that will determine the achievement of human rights, gender justice, social justice and security for all.

MAGANO NERI

Executive Director, Sister Namibia, Namibia

Sister Namibia is a 20-year-old feminist organization that aims to build the feminist movement in Namibia. One of its principle activities includes publishing the bi-monthly Sister Namibia magazine and distributing it to a wide audience including non-governmental, regional and community-based organizations in Namibia, Africa and the world. Sister Namibia is currently developing the Sexual Rights for All! Campaign, a Young Feminists Program and an outreach program for building feminist consciousness more broadly. Oxfam Canada began funding Sister Namibia in 1995; funding has been earmarked for specific portions of Sister Namibia’s overall program. Most recently, Oxfam Canada has provided core support and funds for the Sexual Rights Campaign and its strategic planning exercise. 

MARIA RAQUEL VÁSQUEZ

Madre Tierra and Alianza de Mujeres Rurales, Guatemala

Madre Tierra (Mother Earth) was formed by indigenous women during the worst period of the civil war, and they maintain their organization to continue to have their voices heard. Madre Tierra is part ofAlianza de Mujeres Rurales (Rural Women’s Alliance), which runs a Women’s Leadership School for members to receive training and increase their capacity to be leaders. Madre Tierra and Alianza work on food security, agrarian reform, women’s right to land, women’s participation and violence against women. Vásquez is a farmer, member of Madre Tierra and Alianza and spokesperson for Vamos al Grano, the Oxfam International agriculture campaign in Guatemala.

ROSA ESCOBAR

Director, Association of Women in Solidarity, Guatemala

The Association of Women in Solidarity (AMES) is a small women’s organization working on labour rights, human rights, sexual and reproductive health and violence against women in an integrated way and at the community level (particularly with women who work in free trade zones). AMES has a health clinic in its office and a mobile clinic providing health services to women. It is the only women’s organization in Guatemala working with women in the free trade zones and offering reproductive health services. Oxfam Canada has been supporting AMES since 1997, providing both institutional support and funding for the work with women workers in the free trade zones. Oxfam has also provided support for institutional financial systems and planning and for the training program.  

ROSELINE PRESENCE

Program Officer, Women’s Cooperative Program, Women on Farms Project, South Africa

The Women’s Cooperative Program promotes and supports the development of women’s cooperatives as a basis for increasing the livelihood opportunities for women seasonal workers. Women who live and work on commercial farms and women who work in the agro-processing industry in South Africa are the primary constituents of the Women on Farms Project (WFP). The organization recently established Sikhula Sonke, a farm workers’ organization and fast becoming a sector leader within the labour movement, both in South Africa and regionally. WFP received funds from Oxfam Canada for the first time in 2003 to support organization building, especially to establish Sikhula Sonke, work on farm worker labour rights and most recently on building women’s leadership. 

SHAWNA WAKEFIELD

Gender Justice Lead, Oxfam International, United States

Shawna Wakefield is Gender Justice Lead for Oxfam International, coordinating joint program and advocacy initiatives on women’s rights and gender equality for its 14 affiliates. She has experience in community and international development, research and analysis, strategic planning, program development, project management and gender mainstreaming in programs, humanitarian response and advocacy. She has worked as a community organizer with immigrant and refugee women and men from the Horn of Africa, a program specialist on economic security and rights for UNIFEM, a researcher on elections, the aid architecture and gender and decision-making in Afghanistan, and Oxfam Regional Gender Advisor for East Asia in Cambodia.

TERESA MUGADZA

Teresa Mugadza is presently Advocacy Coordinator for Oxfam in Zimbabwe, based in Harare.  Teresa is a Zimbabwean feminist and human rights activist.  A lawyer by training, Teresa has vast experience in the area of human rights and women’s rights advocacy.  She has worked with a number of civil society organizations in the areas of governance, human rights and development in different capacities.  Among some of the organizations Teresa has worked with are the Legal Resources Foundation, Musasa Project, Women in Politics Support Unit and the Family Support Trust.  Teresa is a founder member of the Women’s Coalition and the Crisis Coalition and currently sits on the boards of the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust and Women and AIDS Support Network.

YOLETTE ETIENNE 

Yolette is the former Oxfam Country Director in Haiti, where she was in a leading role in managing the humanitarian response in the wake of the devastating January 2010 earthquake.

WILBER ANTONIO GONZALES GUTIERREZ

Association of Men Against Violence, Nicaragua

The Association of Men Against Violence was formed in 2000 to work with men, especially young men, to explore traditional concepts of masculinity and how they relate to violence against women and HIV and AIDS. An important part of the work is education, and they have developed a training manual to use with groups of men to promote reflection and personal change on issues such as violence, sexual and reproductive rights, responsible parenting, gender roles, and housework. They work in alliance with women’s organizations and others. 

WORKWOHA MEKONEN

Gender Specialist, Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara, Ethiopia

The Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA) was established in 1984 as a response to the severe drought and famine that affected Northern Ethiopia. The overall objective for ORDA’s program interventions involves improving food security at the household level and building household capacity to manage and prevent disaster thereby reducing household vulnerability. More specifically, this involves increasing agricultural production and productivity, increasing water resources, minimizing environmental degradation, improving social infrastructure and reducing harmful traditional practices. Gender equality and capacity building are crosscutting issues in all of ORDA’s work. In 2006, Oxfam Canada supported ORDA’s emergency relief project in response to the flood that affected the northern administrative districts of the region. In 2007 a restocking project and gender equality and women’s empowerment project were supported.