Alumni Stories

Afghanistan Massouda Jalal Dr. Jalal holds the Minister of Women's Affairs position in the Afghan government. A leader in women’s rights, Dr. Jalal may be best known for her bid for the presidency of Afghanistan against Hamid Karzai in the country's last two presidential elections. During her 2005 visit to the U.S. she met with government officials and served as head of her country's delegation at a major UN meeting. Dr. Jalal was featured in the 2005 documentary Still Fighting: An Afghan Woman Runs for President. Completed Institution Building 2002 (IB 14)
Angola Cesaltina Nunda Cesaltina Nunda largely grew up in Jamba—an encampment of Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA force in the southeastern part of Angola. The 30 year-long civil war in Angola eventually took her father and brother-in-law, but Cesaltina survived and went to live and study in South Africa for six years. An opportunity to work at the Angolan Embassy in South Africa led her to become familiar with a non-governmental organization called Angola 2000, which was started by Angolan refugee youth in South Africa. For her, the organization’s focus on disarmament and peace building was a natural fit. She volunteered and, eventually, became a paid staff member, working on a peace education and conflict resolution project within communities. Seeking improvement of her management skills, Cesaltina came to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2008 for CEDPA's one-month Global Women in Management program. She says she is especially proud that during the CEDPA training she was given the opportunity to speak before the U.S. Congress about her conflict resolution work. (September 2008) Completed Global Women in Management 2008 English (GWIM46)
Argentina Coralie Anne Davies Coralie Anne Davies de Rivero is one of the founders of the Fundación Cruzada Patagónica. The project was initiated 25 years ago as a school for boys over 14 in rural Patagonia, where children lack schooling opportunities. The school was opened to girls in 1995, and combines primary and secondary education with job training. Today, Coralie continues her work with the foundation in a counseling position working directly with the students, teachers and directors of the school. Coralie, a CEDPA alumna from the 2000 Institution Building workshop, puts her counseling skills to use as a coach in CEDPA’s new coaching program. (Sept. 2007) Completed Institution Building 2000 (IB 11)
Bangladesh Shamsun Nahar Rahman Rahman continues to work at the Gashful Family Planning and Family Welfare Association, a development organization founded in 1972. The organization works with women, adolescent girls and children that are vulnerable and live in marginalized conditions, focusing mainly in the health, education and financial sectors, as well as building awareness around HIV/AIDS. Completed Women in Management 1979 (WIM 3)
Bangladesh Afroja Parvi Parvi, Executive Director of Nari Unnayan Shakti (Women’s Power for Development) in Bangladesh presided over International Women’s Day 2006 activities, including several workshops and a mass campaign meeting on “Combating Psychological and Physical Violence against Girls and Women” in Chittagong, Barisal Division. In addition, Parvi, an HIV/AIDS expert, presented at the Asia Regional Consultation on Youth, HIV/AIDS and Human Rights in Pune, India in February. The meeting addressed the special needs of the Asian youth, especially to ensure their social security. Nari Unnayan Shakti (NUS) has run an HIV prevention and sexually-transmitted infection program for nearly 13 years. Providing services for nearly two million families, the organization has recently started advocating for human rights and supporting Bangladeshi women living with HIV/AIDS. In 2005, the organization conducted 160 workshops with 383 police officers, 159 procecutors, 154 media people, 303 community elite and other target groups. And NUS has rescued and socially reintegrated 40 trafficked girls and provided legal aid to 29 sexually abused girls. At present, NUS provides support for 150,000 people through 115 service outlets in nine districts in Bangladesh. Completed Women in Management 2003 (WIM 39)
Barbados Merlene Blackett Merlene Blackett has been a longtime advocate for HIV/AIDS rights and services. Her involvement in the HIV/AIDS arena has recently brought her to Washington DC to serve on the Global Health Council’s International Advisory Board for the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. The elite board, made up of 12 experts from 6 global regions, meet to discuss the organization of the global event. This year marks the 25 anniversary for the candlelight memorial. In addition to her work on the board, Merlene and her co-workers at the AIDS Society of Barbados, Inc. are responsible for organizing the event in her home country of Barbados. They have tentative plans for an outdoor ceremony and anticipate that the number of attendants this year will surpass last year’s 150 participants. Merlene became a CEDPA alumna after attending last year’s Advancing Women’s Leadership in HIV/AIDS Action workshop. (Feb. 2008) Completed Advancing Women's Leadership in HIV/AIDS Action July 2007
Botswana Goitsemang Boiteto In 1990, Boiteto worked in health care in the Kgalagadi District Council under the Department of Local Government Service Management. She found resources scarce and the work demanding and challenging. Without the necessary staff and transport, there was little she could do to improve the delivery of health services to the district. However, after approaching the Permanent Secretary’s Office at the Ministry of Health to voice the needs for her District, she was granted twelve nurses and four vehicles. Since then, she has continued to apply her learned leadership skills in Botswana’s health care system. Boiteto is currently a Matron (Senior Nursing Officer) for the Kweneng District Council and manages about 320 staff members in 35 health facilities. Completed Women in Management 1986 (WIM 18)
Brazil Andreia Rabetim Since graduating from CEDPA’s 2005 Global Women in Management workshop, Andreia Rabetim has been working at Companhia Vale do Rio Doce Fundacao to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainable development throughout Brazil. Most recently, her foundation partnered with a local government to build the local government’s capacity in fundraising and proposal-writing, both areas in which Andreia strengthened her skills during the 2005 workshop. As a result, the local government was able to raise $140 million in funding from the federal government. Andreia credits the CEDPA workshop with giving her the capacity to bridge the communication gap between the corporate and social sectors. Andreia wanted to share her experience and wisdom with others, so she came back to Washington for the 2009 CEDPA Alumni Coaching workshop. (February 2009) Completed Global Women in Management 2005 (GWIM 40)
China Shuangyan (Shine) Gong Shuangyan (Shine) Gong is a Senior Fellow in Maternal and Child Health at the China Population and Development Research Center. She runs an HIV prevention program in Hebei province in China, targeting women whose husbands are migrant workers. One of her goals is to make sure these migrant women also have the skills to talk to their daughters about HIV. Children get little information about AIDS in school, and often pick up misinformation from television or their friends, Shine says. CEDPA recently caught up with her in China during a program to assess the educational and social needs of migrant girls. Shine says that she still applies knowledge from her CEDPA training in her daily work, and especially appreciates the information she learned about ways to combat stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV. Shine continues to advance her learning through her participation in CEDPA’s Alumni Coaching Program. (May 2008) Completed Advancing Women's Leadership in HIV/AIDS Action July 2007
Colombia Maria Concepcion “Conchita” Matabanchoy Palacios Conchita Matabanchoy grew up in a farming family in southern Colombia, in a rural town near the border with Ecuador. Like many girls in her community, she stopped her formal schooling at age 12 to help out at home. She says though she never considered herself to be a leader, she gained the confidence to become active in her mostly indigenous community because of social and economic issues that were making it more difficult for farmers to earn a living and for women and girls to have a voice in their lives. Today, Conchita is a recognized leader with the Association for Peasant Development, where she works to increase community income through improved farming practices and economic development initiatives. She also dedicates herself to ensuring that girls and youth have access to the educational opportunities that she never had. Conchita feels she learned a great deal from CEDPA’s Global Women in Management training program, which she joined in October 2008 with support from the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educating Women and Girls Initiative. “The program has been very meaningful for me as a woman and a leader,” she says. Conchita is now back home, where her new skills will allow her to “train other people how to envision their dreams and how to work towards those dreams, little-by-little and step-by-step.” (November 2008) Completed Global Women in Management 2008 (GWIM 47) Spanish
Congo (Kinshasa) Salwa Kadizi Kadizi has been working in Benin at the University Research Corporation on the Northern Benin project Promotion Integrée de Santé Familiale dans le Borgou since 1999. The project coordinates partners’ efforts in the area, improves access to family health services and logistics, and builds the capacity of health workers. Kadizi is responsible for the capacity building of health workers and is developing a training system, organizing and training teams of trainers, and developing curricula for supervision and training of trainers in the use of family health protocols. Separate from her job, she is also personally involved in combating harmful practices that exist in Northern Benin related to safe motherhood. Previously, Kadizi had received a small grant from CEDPA after attending WIM 12. She used the money to organize the Center d’Cadrement des Femmes en Matière de Développement, where she trained women in income generating activities. In 1987, she joined the Centre for African Family Studies and was based in Nairobi as an Assistant Program Officer dealing with Francophone programs. In 1989, she transferred to the Senegal office and was a trainer in contraceptive technology and training of trainers. Completed Women in Management 1983 (WIM 12) French
Denmark Jacob Dal Winther Winther has worked in his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since April 2001. He works specifically on humanitarian assistance and is responsible for the Danish transition assistance to Albania, resulting in a recent mission trip to the country. Jacob also works on Denmark’s humanitarian assistance to the western Balkans. Completed Youth, Leadership & Reproductive Health 1996 (YDRH 5)
East Timor Nafsiah Mboi Dr. Mboi is Director of the Department of Gender, Women and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. She is a pediatrician and holds a master’s degree in public health with more than 20 years of leadership experience in women’s health issues. When she attended CEDPA’s training, she lived and worked as a medical doctor in Timor and was Chairperson of the community-based organization Village Family Welfare Movement. Completed Supervision and Evaluation 1982 (S&E 3)
Egypt Azza Mohamed Said El Ashmawy Dr. Said El Ashmawy enrolled in the CEDPA workshop at the urging of the Secretary General of the National Council. Expecting to learn more specific strategies for youth development and reproductive health, she expressed how much she enjoyed sharing experiences with the other participants. “I have learned many things here, especially how to see children as assets. They are assets we can use, even if they’re young,” she explained. Dr. Said El Ashmawy is a health planner for the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. She works as a medical supervisor for children in vulnerable areas of Egypt, teaches health education in order to raise awareness around childhood and motherhood issues, and also performs research in the field. Her organization is currently employing a program that works to provide services to underprivileged youth, improve working conditions, and educate youth and their parents. Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 1999 (YDRH 9)
Ethiopia Abdella Muzein Muzein established the non-governmental organization Empower Youth-Ethiopia (EYE) in January 2001. EYE works to increase the opportunities for and abilities of young people to make healthy sexual decisions in the face of the AIDS pandemic and to properly harness their unique potential and assets to build their communities. The organization was established by Muzein and a group of professionals and young people. She reports that it is like a dream come true for her, as she has always wanted to establish an organization that addresses the issues and concerns of youth. Completed Youth Leaders Program 1995 (YLFP 4)
Gambia, The Ebrima Saidy Saidy was accepted to De Monfort University in Leicester, England to complete a Masters Degree in community education with a professional qualification in youth and community development, in the effort to fulfill his dream of a career working with youth. Completed Youth, Leadership & Reproductive Health 1996 (YDRH 5)
Germany Uli Gilbert Uli Gilbert joined the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) regional office in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she focuses on young people and HIV prevention in South Asia. Gilbert previously served as CEDPA/South Africa’s Country Representative. Completed Youth, Leadership & Reproductive Health 1997 (YDRH 6)
Ghana Kwesi Odoi-Agyarko Dr. Odoi-Agyarko was awarded the United Nations Population Honor for his outstanding work in rural reproductive health programs. As Executive Director of the Rural Help Integrated Project, he has increased male use of contraceptives and improved project management systems and leadership. Also, he promoted community-based reproductive health services and raised awareness of female genital cutting practices in Ghana. Dr. Odoi-Agyarko and fellow award recipient EngenderHealth were honored in a June 2002 ceremony at the United Nations in New York. The Population Honor is presented annually to individuals and organizations that have made profound contributions to the awareness and management of population dilemmas. Completed Institution Building 1995 (IB 6A) Spanish
Guatemala Manuela Alvarado Alvarado is a Mayan educator, nurse and women right’s activist who tirelessly advocates for human rights in Guatemala. Among her many achievements is founding PRODEM, a women’s rights organizations focused on community health. Alvarado is one of the first indigenous women elected to the post-war government of Guatemala. Among her many achievements is being a founder of PRODEM, a women’s rights organization that focuses on community and women’s health. She challenges status quo by declaring, “How can we deny that raising children, making food, selling goods, sharing and teaching religion, isn’t the exercise of leadership in the home, in the family, in the church? We want the women to recognize this and value their innate ability and channel this ability to bring about change.” CEDPA has worked with PRODEM to “exchange views and meet with other groups confronting similar challenges. Our collective responsibility is to improve the situation of women. Through CEDPA, we have been able to exchange ideas, techniques, approaches, explore new ways to move this shared agenda forward.” Completed Institution Building 2001 (IB 12)
India Jaya Arunachalam Arunachalam, President of the Working Women’s Forum, was featured in a May 2005 Washington Post column. A 1980 CEDPA alumna, Arunachalam has worked for 30 years to tap the leadership potential of working women to improve their lives and lift up their families and communities. The Working Women’s Forum has grown to include 700,000 women throughout India. Arunachalam also recently received an award from the Vital Voices Global Partnership for her work to advance women's rights and economic development. Completed Women in Management 1980 (WIM 5)
India Savitri Sharma Savitri Sharma is the Director of Find Your Feet-India, an organization assisting marginalized people such as the landless, the disabled and women to gain economic independenc. She works with communities in remote rural India to end their poverty. She says "I've witnessed many changes since we started our India office. We are dedicated to working with communities living in remote parts of rural India to end their poverty. But our experience of working with the most vulnerable groups - dalits, tribals and women - has taught us that in addition to creating opportunities to build a stable livelihood, we also need to support them to access their rights." Completed Women in Management 2003 (WIM 39)
India Ananta Singh Singh passed away September 21, 2004 after a brief illness. Ananta worked for the past eight years at the State Innovations in Family Planning Services Agency (SIFPSA) project in India, sponsored by the US Agency for International Development. SIFPSA, a longtime CEDPA partner organization, works in the areas of family planning, reproductive health, and maternal and child healthcare. Prior to working at SIFPSA, Singh gained valuable work experience in many related areas. She started out training teachers in rural parts of India, and then worked to combat water scarcity in villages by installing hand pumps and training women in basic plumbing skills. She also worked for a UNICEF project on rural women's self-employment, as well as for a CARE-India project on slum dwellers' health and hygiene. Completed Women in Management 1999 (WIM 35)
India Manju Agrawal Nominated as a steering committee member for the Indian government’s planning commission on women’s empowerment and child development, Agrawal will help develop a campaign focusing on promoting the health and safety of Indian girls. She also advocates against domestic violence in Uttar Pradesh and serves as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Voluntary Action Network. And Agrawal belongs to Oxfam International’s State Education Management Committee. Agrawal currently heads the Amity Institute of Behavioral and Allied Sciences and teaches at Amity University in Uttar Pradesh. Agrawal's book The World of Adolescent Girls was recently published in Hindi and English and is available at major booksellers in India. Completed Women in Management 2000 (WIM 36)
India Sunita Arora Arora joined CEDPA/India as its program officer in 2002, where she’s responsible for managing, implementing, and evaluating adolescent projects. Arora remodeled the training department of the reproductive health division and transformed it into an open, interactive group. At the moment, she is working in partnership with many agencies to implement training and establish a network of NGOs throughout India. Arora came to the Youth Development and Reproductive Health workshop wanting to learn about more than just training methods and approaches to development. She explains, “The Youth workshop has opened my eyes. Whatever I saw in the past, I used to see with blinders on. Now, I have a broader perspective.” Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 2003 (YDRH 13)
Indonesia Sunarti Sudomo Dr. Sudomo is Chief of the Health Foundation Sinar Wijaya Indonesia. There she is working on a health program that includes family planning and women’s empowerment programs in cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, and Malang. In May 2001, she finished her first five-year program at the Health Foundation and soon after started her second five-year program. As part of this second program, she plans to set up facilities for a more permanent family planning clinic and other programs in Malang. In 2001, Dr. Sudomo also conducted a one-day women’s empowerment seminar for 100 people at the National Family Planning Coordinating Board headquarters in East Jakarta. At the seminar they worked on a module for integrating democracy and welfare through the family with women’s empowerment. Completed Women in Management 1978 (WIM 2)
Indonesia Nafsiah Mboi As Secretary of the National AIDS Commission in Indonesia, Nafsiah faces multiple challenges. One is the stigma associated with the populations most affected by the epidemic in her country: injecting drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men. Another is confronting the gender inequity that leads to women’s increased vulnerability to HIV. Today, as Secretary of Indonesia’s National AIDS Commission, Nafsiah speaks out—both nationally and internationally—on the consequences of gender inequities and women’s increased vulnerability to HIV. She traces her knowledge of gender equality to her training at CEDPA, back in 1982. Thinking back to her participation in CEDPA’s Supervision and Evaluation workshop in Washington, D.C., she remembers that “the whole concept of gender was new to us.” Now, though Nafsiah occasionally finds herself a lone voice on these issues, she sees positive signs of change and greater understanding among the younger generations. (Feb. 2008) Completed Supervision and Evaluation 1982 (S&E 3)
Indonesia Bahrul Ulumiyah Suheb A teacher by profession, Bahrul gives a great deal of her time and energy as a volunteer with Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia—a non-profit organization that focuses on women’s empowerment. The organization coordinates several different programs for women, but abolishing illiteracy is one of its main activities. Bahrul says she gained from the information sharing and interactions with others at CEDPA’s Summer 2008 Global Women in Management training program, which was supported through the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educating Women and Girls Initiative. She says she has valued “know[ing] leaders from other countries, shar[ing] experience, and adapt[ing] experience for my organization.” Bahrul hopes to transfer the knowledge she learned at CEDPA’s training to the capacity building she is doing in local communities. “I have to transform my new knowledge to my members and to beneficiaries,” she says. (August 2008) Completed Global Women in Management 2008 English (GWIM46)
Kenya Phoebe Asiyo CEDPA board member Asiyo worked with Cecilia Kimemia and Litha Musyimi, with the support of the Kenya’s Minister of Health Charity Nguilu who is also a CEDPA alumna, to organize two events to bring Kenyan alumni together. These Kenyan alumni have now formed a working network of women leaders from Kenya and other East African countries to advocate for critical issues for women and girls including HIV/AIDS, poverty alleviation and capacity building for groups at the community level. Completed Women in Management 1978 (WIM 2)
Kenya Charity Ngilu In 2002, Ngilu was appointed Minister of Health, one of only three women currently holding cabinet posts in Kenya. As health minister, Ngilu has made it one of her priorities to address women’s reproductive rights. Since 1989, she has been a leader of the Maenbeleo ya Wanawake organization, the national women’s movement. This is just the second time in Kenyan history that women have even been appointed to a cabinet post. Completed Women in Management 1994 (WIM 29)
Kenya Mary Wanjiku Kairu Kairu is a prime example of an empowered woman leading the way for change. She describes herself before participating over 20 years ago in a Women in Management workshop as “a timid, reserved and inexperienced woman wanting to be empowered.” After a series of moves to positions in the national and international organizations, including serving as a program coordinator for CEDPA’s East Africa regional office, Kairu consults for international agencies on advocacy issues from women’s health to legal rights and policy issues. She attributes her career successes “to CEDPA’s unique way of building my management and leadership skills.” Completed Women in Management 1985 (WIM 16)
Kenya Litha Musyimi-Ogana Kenya native Musyimi-Ogana lives and works in South Africa for the The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which among other priorities, focuses on empowering African women. An economist by training, Musyimi-Ogana advises gender and civil society organizations on women’s issues. She points out, “It’s important that the African continent is engendered. Women have suffered the most from conflict, and they comprise the highest number of refugees.” Previously, Musyimi-Ogana headed the Africa Center in Kenya, which has trained over 500 women and produced training manuals and other publications in ten African countries. She feels that the skills she learned in her WIM workshop helped her advocate for women. A part of CEDPA’s delegation to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, she developed lobbying skills which have proven useful in her career. Completed Women in Management 1978 (WIM 2)
Kenya Inviolata Mmbwavi Inviolata Mmbwavi addressed the World Bank’s Africa Region Task Team Leaders at a March 2007 workshop on Operationalizing the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in the Workplace. The 31 workshop participants from 27 African countries were team leaders responsible for ensuring that their staff and dependents are knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS policies. Inviolata, CEO of the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, presented on many key issues faced by people living with HIV and AIDS. She is an alumna of CEDPA’s 2005 WomenLead in the Fight Against AIDS workshop. (Mar. 2007) Completed WomenLead in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 2005 (WLEAD 1)
Malaysia Zuraidah Mian Mian recently returned from a two-week mission to Southern Sudan. Working for the Malayasian Medical Relief Society (MERCY Malaysia), she spent her time in the regional capital of Juba assessing the needs for hospital reproductive health care unit. She writes, “I am still affected by what I witnessed in Juba—and my visit was only confined to the tertiary hospital—a teaching hospital, mind you, so I can imagine how much worse it is in the outlying and rural areas.” On staff with MERCY Malaysia for nearly two years now, Mian heads the planning and development team, developing funding programs and pursuing partnerships. MERCY Malaysia comprises medical relief teams dedicated to providing humanitarian aid in crisis and non-crisis situations. Mian is featured in CEDPA’s training video, Voices of Women Leaders. Completed Global Women in Management 2005 (GWIM 40)
Mali Fatoumata Traoré Madame Traoré has spent the more than 30 years in the service of women and their families, transforming their lives by implementing the first family planning programs in rural Mali. Over ten years ago, Traoré established the first and largest organization in Mali specializing in family planning and adolescent reproductive health care. The Association for Development and Population Activities is now one of Mali's great success stories in the privatization of family planning information and service delivery and a model for sustainability. After attending her first CEDPA workshop, she immediately mobilized other alumni in Mali to launch the groundbreaking Women's Committee for Population and Development Activities, using her position as a government health worker to leverage its attachment to the Ministry of Health and Social Services. The committee was able to propose and launch Mali's first corps of community health extension workers. Two years later, Katibougou found itself firmly embarked on an informal experiment in community-based distribution of contraceptives, responding to a tremendous unmet need. Madame Traoré also participated in CEDPA’s 1991 Supervision and Evaluation Workshop. Completed Women in Management 1983 (WIM 12) French
Mexico Sylvia Flores Martínez Martínez was recently featured in the article “Modern-Day Heroes and Pioneers” in the March 2005 issue of the online magazine, Living at Lake Chapala. Martinez is co-founder of the Centro de Desarrollo (Center for Development) in Lake Chapala, Mexico, a local organization committed to women’s health. In Mexico, health is traditionally a very private issue, and for many years women have suffered from a severe lack of information about their bodies, particularly related to sexuality and family planning. Through her organization, Sylvia and her colleagues educate communities through workshoips on nutrition, prenatal care, family planning and other prevalent health issues. Martínez also participated in CEDPA’s Insitution-Building-Spanish Workshop in 1995. Completed Supervision and Evaluation 1990 (S&E 14) Spanish
Mexico María Antonieta Alcalde Castro Former CEDPA board member Castro is working to bring youth voices to international meetings in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Mexico City. As part of the Youth Coalition, a global network of youth activists, she provides advocacy training to youth attending regional meetings held to review progress in development. Her goal is to help build a common agenda for youth in the region, and educate youth on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) process and how they can use their voices to influence the deliberations and outcomes. Castro also participated in CEDPA’s 2002 Institution-Building-Spanish Workshop as well as a Training of Trainers Workshop in 2001. Completed Youth, Leadership & Reproductive Health 1997 (YDRH 6)
Mexico Rosa María Vidal Vidal is currently the Executive Director of Pronatura/Chiapas, which recently received a grant from the Packard Foundation for integrating family planning services and education with natural resource management. Vidal has also worked in recent years with former CEDPA colleague Patricia Sears on Cairo+5 and other related areas. In 1996, CEDPA funded a Pronatura community diagnostic with World Bank funds and they became a Better Life Options partner for three years, which was the first time Pronatura worked in the area of reproductive health. Completed Institution Building 1995 (IB 6)
Mexico Verónica Cruz In Nov. 2006, Human Rights Watch honored Verónica Cruz at an awards ceremony for her activism for women’s rights in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. As founder and head of Las Libres, Cruz advocates for women who are victims of domestic violence or rape. She is especially passionate about helping women attain abortions in cases of rape. Though abortion due to rape is legal, women have struggled to gain access to abortion services. Founded in 2000, Las Libres has full time staff of four people, and volunteers pull their resources together to push women’s rights issues forward and provide free legal and psychological counseling. Completed Global Women in Management 2006 (GWIM 42)
Mexico Marcela Martinez Roaro Marcela Martinez Roaro recently published the second edition of Derechos Y Delitos Sexuales y Reproductivos (Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Crimes). The book officially will be released May 31 in Mexico City. The launch will include comments by President Emilio Alvarez Icaza of the Distrito Federal Human Rights Commission, and Paola Sesia from the National Safe Motherhood Committee. Marcela, who participated in the 1995 CEDPA Institution Building workhop, is the President of the Superior Institute for Sexual Education in Aguascalientes and is a committed human rights activist. (May 2007) Completed Institution Building 1995 (IB 6A) Spanish
Mexico Andrea Saldaña Andrea Saldaña was recently awarded the “Una Gran Mujer” (One Great Woman) prize from the Instituto de las Mujeres (the Women's Institute) and the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The award is in recognition of her research and field work in the civil and governmental arenas of Mexico and Latin America advocating for women’s health and legal rights. Andrea’s work and publications promote a more equitable relationship between the genders, which translates to better laws and quality programs for women. She is also a member of the board of the National Safe Motherhood Committee of Mexico. One of the goals of this interagency group is to confront gender-based violence, especially against pregnant women. Andrea is an alumna of the Spanish Supervision and Evaluation workshop in 1990 and the 2007. (December 2008) Completed Supervision and Evaluation 1990 (S&E 14) Spanish
Nepal Urmila Shrestha Shrestha is currently working as Honorable Member of the Public Service Commission (PSC). She is only the third woman to serve as Secretary of Civil Service and the second woman to serve in this capacity. With her nearly forty years of experience working on development issues in Nepal, Shrestha is now focusing her attention on increasing the number of women in civil service positions in Nepal. She explained that the CEDPA workshop she attended provided her with new ideas and tools for strong leadership and institutional growth. Completed Women in Management 1999 (WIM 35)
Nepal Pravita Rana Rana has spent the past ten years working in her country’s political system as a member of the Rastriya Parjatantra Party (RPP). She has also become involved in social work in the remote district of Bardia. She ran for office in two general elections and received ten thousand votes, but was two thousand votes short of being victorious. Rana also looks after three NGOs in Bardia, funded by the ASIA Foundation, PACT, and UN Women’s Guild, which works to support women’s groups and community development. Completed Supervision and Evaluation 1987 (S&E 8)
Nepal Chandni Joshi One year after attending the CEDPA training workshop, Joshi joined United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). As the Regional Director for South Asia and as the highest-ranking Nepali in the United Nations service, she is committed to bringing gender onto the center stage of development efforts. Using a rights-based approach, she has successfully brought the voices of women to policymakers at the national, regional and global levels. She has lobbied on behalf of women their families at major international conferences including the Earth Summit in Rio (1992) and the Fourth World Conference in Beijing (1995). At a 2002 conference in Bhutan, Joshi expressed her great respect for Southeast Asian women. “The confidence was similar everywhere, only the women’s faces were different. They are their own advocates, and entirely capable of having meaningful dialogue with any stakeholder on an even footing, with knowledge, confidence and dignity. What they have said time and again is that they need spaces and opportunities for equal participation.” A Nepali national, she previously served in high-level government positions including her role as Joint Secretary and Chief of the Women Development Division at the Local Development Ministry of Nepal. Completed Supervision and Evaluation 1987 (S&E 8)
Nepal Srijana Adhikari In early January, Women Lead in Promoting Peace and Stability alumna Srijana Adhikari organized and presented a program called “How Women Can Lead in the Peace-building Process” in Nepal. In her presentation, she shared what she learned from her 2006 CEDPA training, emphasizing the importance of viewing conflict as an opportunity to change society. She also encouraged student leaders to not limit themselves to protesting, but to also focus on problem solving. The program was interactive as well as informative and many of the women and young people were happy to take the information they acquired back to their organizations. Srijana will give another presentation in Chitwan in the near future. Completed WomenLead in Promoting Peace and Stability 2006 (WLEAD 2)
Niger Hawa Garba Wonkoye Wonkoye is a member of the central committee of a political party in her home country’s newly established democratic system. She also serves as Secretary General for the Network of African Women Parliament Ministers-Niger Committee, which is currently working on a project to integrate women into the economic, political and legal development processes of Niger. Hawa also works for a teacher training service that manages 40 schools in the capital city of Niamey. Completed Women in Management 1995 (WIM 31) French
Nigeria Francis Ayodele Obuseh Ayodele Obuseh is currently working towards a doctoral degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the United States. He is studying in the School of Public Health's Department of Maternal and Child Health, concentrating on perinatal and adolescent health. The National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute Fellowship supports Ayodele Obuseh through the school's predoctoral training program in the Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program (CPCTP). He is the first UAB School of Public Health Maternal and Child Health graduate student supported by the CPCTP in its 17-year history. Through his fellowship he is working on women's health, especially related to HPV, HIV and cancer of the cervix, and he also works on a child health development project with the March of Dimes. Ayodele Obuseh previously earned both a bachelor and master degrees in human nutrition from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, as well as a Master in Public Health in Epidemiology and International Health from UAB in 2003. Completed Institution Building 1997 (IB 8)
Nigeria Saudatu Mahdi Mahdi works for the rights of women through the implementation of programs and services at the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), a Nigerian non-governmental organization focusing on the legal rights of women and the actualization of those rights at individual and collective levels. Mahdi helped expand WRAPA to a settlement outside Abuja to provide legal aid and counseling, adult literacy, civic education programs and skills training for women’s economic empowerment. In other parts of Nigeria, Mahdi supervises the WRAPA state focal persons executing the mission of WRAPA at those levels. She also coordinates the law reform advocacy program of WRAPA. CEDPA awarded her with the Ralph Stone Award for her inspirational leadership. Upon receiving the award, she said, “I have a dream for the women in Nigeria to a life free from discrimination, abuse and one full with opportunities. I share a hope and trust in our collective determination that our best future will happen.” Completed Institution Building 2001 (IB 12)
Nigeria Bernice A. Kolade Chief Kolade is currently the executive director of Women and Development Movement (WADEM), a non-governmental organization working on the social, political and economic empowerment of women. WADEM also has projects focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, and democracy and governance. Completed Women in Management 1993 (WIM 28)
Nigeria Bisi Ogunleye Chief Ogunleye was a visible participant at the 2002 United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. As part of the event’s debate on the world’s economic progress, delegates discussed how gender issues affect poverty. Chief Ogunleye’s participation on this topic was highlighted in an article by the Associated Press on the issues affecting women farmers at the Summit. She stated, “African women in Nigeria, we have no right to land, we can only access [land] through our husbands and sons. It means injustice because if women are the ones planting, working and producing food and have no right to land, they have no right to work in their full capacity.” Chief Ogunleye is a longtime CEDPA partner through her work at the Country Women Association of Nigeria. Completed Women in Management 1983 (WIM 11)
Nigeria Hajia Aisha Ismail Ismail is currently the National Minister of Women Affairs in Nigeria. During her administration, she published and released the National Policy on Women, and her ministry selected CEDPA/Nigeria as an NGO representative on the National Consultative Committee (NCC) for the Advancement of Women. The NCC was inaugurated last year by the Minister Aisha Ismail combined with a technical team of experts drawn from several ministries, with the goal of ensuring gender mainstreaming in all areas of government. The NCC will work with the technical team to ensure that all aspects of governance are gender sensitive. Minister Aisha Ismail was also actively involved in the CEDPA and Johns Hopkins University-funded affirmative action lobby to the Constitutional Review Committee in 1998, seeking more equitable representation of women in decision-making. Completed Institution Building 1997 (IB 8)
Nigeria Josephine Anenih Anenih is the National Woman Leader of the People’s Democratic Party in Nigeria. She also co-founded Women Foundation Nigeria (WFN) with two women representing the other political parties in Nigeria. WFN creates opportunities for Nigerian women to network on global women’s issues and works to empower women for increased participation in the political process. They also monitor women’s contributions to the political landscape and encourage women’s activism. Anenih and her colleagues attended a workshop on “The Internet and Women’s Democratic Organizing” at Michigan State University with a group of eight women from Africa. The program provided an opportunity to learn Internet-based skills, attend sessions on women’s advocacy issues, and meet staff from related organizations in the U.S., including CEDPA, the National Organization for Women, and the League of Women Voters. Completed Women in Management 2000 (WIM 36)
Nigeria Aisha Yolah Yolah, a native of Kano located in northern Nigeria, currently heads the commercial lending department at Bank of the North. The only women in management, she’s found that the leadership skills she developed at the WIM workshop have helped her in negotiating daily challenges while working in the male-dominated banking world. She’s found that subtlety is often the best approach in her work relationships, and having developed more confidence during the workshop has helped her present ideas to her male colleagues without feeling intimidated. At the time of the CEDPA workshop, Yolah worked as a journalist covering women’s issues for the local newspaper. She met the then-CEDPA/Nigeria director who convinced her to enroll in the training. She considers the WIM workshop as the equivalent to “a degree in living in the real world.” Completed Women in Management 1997 (WIM 33)
Nigeria Margaret Ebokpo Margaret Ebokpo, a lawyer and nurse, is Executive Director of the Women in Detention Rights Initiative in Cross River, Nigeria. She says that the intersection of poverty and gender inequality is fueling the AIDS epidemic in Cross River, and that “we need to address gender inequality urgently.” She urges increased efforts to educate women and give them a voice so that “they can decide what they want from their lives” and lead efforts to improve their communities. Ebokpo was a participant in the 2001 Women in Management program. She applied to gain more skills in management and leadership, she says. Completed Women In Management 2001 (WIM 37)
Nigeria Olayinka Jegende-Ekpe Olayinka "Yinka" Jegende-Ekpe was recently featured in the March 2007 issue of Nigeria’s Genevieve magazine. In the article, Yinka discusses her life in Nigeria after contracting HIV. She was one of the first Nigerian women to publically declare her status. The article explores the challenges she encountered after declaring her status, the changes in her life since, the decision to become a mother and the fears she had about the health of her beautiful baby girl. She completed CEDPA's Youth and Reproductive Health workshop in 2001. (May 2007) Completed Youth Development & Reproductive Health 2001 (YDRH 11)
Nigeria Assumpta Reginald CEDPA alumna Assumpta Reginald recently received the prestigious Red Ribbon Award 2008 on behalf of her organization, Womankind Nigeria. The award, bestowed by Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria, recognizes the work civil society groups, HIV/AIDS activists and journalists do to improve discourse nationwide on the epidemic. Womankind Nigeria aspires to break the stigma and discrimination related to people living with HIV/AIDS in communities throughout Nigeria. Assumpta attended the WomenLead in Promoting Peace and Stability Workshop in 2006. (January 2009) Completed WomenLead in Promoting Peace and Stability 2006 (WLEAD 2)
Pakistan Hilda Saeed Saeed was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize June 2005 by the 1,000 Women for the Peace Prize initiative. Saeed was honored as one of 1,000 women from more than 150 countries nominated by the initiative. These women were chosen to represent the untold numbers of women worldwide who are engaged in conflict resolution and peace building. Only 11 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize since it was introduced in 1901. Read More. Saeed also participated in CEDPA's Supervision and Evaluation Training Workshop in 1987. Completed Women in Management 1990 (WIM 25) Arabic
Pakistan Meher Kermani Kermani continues to work for the All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA), a non-governmental organization whose aims and objectives involve the social, educational, legal and cultural uplifting of women and children in Pakistan. APWA has provincial and district branches throughout Pakistan and several thousand members, as well as Consultative Status with the Government of Pakistan and affiliation with several international organizations. Meher is currently managing APWA’s projects involving women’s empowerment, reproductive health and primary health care for adolescents and children. Completed Institution Building 1992 (IB 1)
Papua New Guinea Margaret Rombuk Margaret Rombuk was raised in a rural community in Papua New Guinea where her church addressed healthcare needs by setting up hospitals and a nursing college. This work inspired Margaret to train as a nurse and she has devoted herself to public health ever since. Margaret saw the need for access to health information, so she joined forces with Susa Mamas Inc., a non-profit organization in Port Moresby whose “vision is to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality by promoting mother and baby friendly practices through education.” In 2007, Susu Mamas and its cadre of five nurses saw nearly 106,000 women and 22,000 babies. As a newly-appointed clinical manager, Margaret hopes eventually to run small clinics that are financially independent. Her dream is “to get the message to the rural people in the villages so they can have a healthier life.” Margaret says she learned a great deal from CEDPA’s Global Women in Management training program, which she joined in the summer of 2008 with support from the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educating Women and Girls Initiative. “I’ve learned a lot from the women who have come from different countries, organizations and backgrounds,” Margaret adds. “This has motivated me to … think of other ways to help women.” (October 2008) Completed Global Women in Management 2008 English (GWIM46)
Peru Martha Llanos Martha was part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on gender and women leaders from which a three step plan was put into action. The first step was to develop the Encounter of Women Leaders, a network composed of the private sectors, academia, government and civil society to seek ways and develop strategies to ensure that women’s concerns are heard, their aspirations considered, and their involvement firmly established when decisions and policies are made within APEC. The second action was to hold a workshop on Gender Analysis Training to accelerate the gender integration process into APEC strategies and practices and to develop a training manual for senior officials on how to effectively incorporate the concepts, practices and tools for gender integration into the policies and intervention strategies. The third step was the meeting of official representatives from women governmental offices in each of the 21 APEC economies to promote the application of the framework for the integration of women in APEC in order to achieve the equality of women and men, and women’s economic integration in the region and to share best practices for gender integration in each economy. Martha incorporated the knowledge, inspiration and inclusive spirit that she learned during the WomenLead in Promoting Peace and Stability workshop in 2007 into her participation in the APEC meetings. (June 2008) Completed WomenLead in Promoting Peace and Stability 2007 (WLEAD 3)
Philippines Mary Grace Granado Granado patiently waited nearly 12 years to participate in a CEDPA workshop. In 1991, she visited a CEDPA office and immediately knew that the YDRH workshop “was the course for me.” Granado finally made it to the workshop in 2003. She had heard a lot about the asset-based approach, but was unsure how to implement it. “The workshop synthesized what I’ve been doing back home,” she explained. “It helped put everything into place, giving direction to my work.” Granado oversees the day-to-day operations of the University of Bohol Family Care and Lying-In Center in the Philippines. Grace works on establishing youth-friendly health and other services for youth aged 13–24. She plans to raise consciousness around gender and adolescent issues through education and training. The workshop spurred Granado to see young people as assets who can help her achieve these goals. “The Filipino culture highly values child development,” notes Granado. “We even have a law where we uphold youth participation. Up to the highest level of the government, the legislative body, we have youth representatives. But we haven’t prepared the young people to really participate.” She wants to “take the culture’s value of youth participation and use it to harness the leadership potential of young people.” As a hobby, Granado occasionally writes and has recently produced a musical act dubbed “For Young Girls Only.” Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 1999 (YDRH 9)
Romania Daniela Draghici Draghici is currently working for Ipas as a Policy and Program Consultant. In this capacity, she conducted a reproductive health needs assessment in Tbilisi, Georgia, and promoted the latest Ipas uterine evacuation instrument, the MVA Plus, at the first International Medical Exhibition in Georgia. Draghici also held talks on reproductive health at the Ministry of Health and organized meetings with key nongovernmental organizations working for women's reproductive health and rights. In addition, she worked with UNFPA and the head Ministry of Health official in Abkhazia, a recently independent region, on reproductive health for refugees. Completed Women in Management 1992 (WIM 27)
Russia Tatiana Gritsenko and Svetlana Zvereva As businesswomen active in their community, Gritsenko and Zvereva volunteer in the Youth Palace (Junior Chamber). Currently, they’re designing what is possibly Russia’s first Leadership School for Girls, adapted from the Russia School for Leadership. They both agree on how valuable the CEDPA’s training workshop was in promoting leadership development for women. Completed Global Women in Management 2005 (GWIM 40)
Senegal Fatou Aminata Lo Lo completed her master’s degree in May 2005 at the School of International Training in Vermont. As part of the master’s program, she had an internship with the Millennium Project in New York, an independent advisory body commissioned by the Secretary-General to advise the United Nations (UN) on strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this role, Aminata Lo had the opportunity to contribute to the Millennium Project’s report: “Investing in Development.” She also assisted in writing a guidebook for women’s constituencies working on the MDGs and during the 49th session of the Commission of the Status of Women, held in March 2005 at the UN in New York. At that meeting, she also organized a panel discussion on “Women and the MDGs.” Completed Youth Acting on Cairo and Beijing 1996 (Youth Voices 2)
South Africa Frank Julie In March 2006, Julie published The Art of Leadership and Management on the Ground, a handbook for leaders and managers. Based on 25 years of experience in Africa, the handbook covers topics including effective leadership, management, proposal writing, strategic planning and personal money management. Read more about Julie's book on his Web site. Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 1999 (YDRH 9)
South Africa Prudence Mabele CEDPA board member Mabele carried the Olympic torch in June 2004 as part of an international torch relay for the Olympics held in Athens, Greece. As part of the South African relay team, Mabele ran with the torch through the streets of Cape Town. She was selected because of her inspirational work as an outspoken HIV/AIDS activist in South Africa. Mabele was the first black woman in South Africa to publicly reveal her HIV status at a time when such declarations were unheard of due to stigmatization and discrimination. Since that time, she has worked tirelessly, founding the Positive Women’s Network, a nongovernmental organization that provides support to women living with the disease. Completed Women In Management 2001 (WIM 37)
South Africa Michael Cuthbert Cuthbert was recently promoted to Program Director for the South Africa National Council of YMCAs. All matters related to National Program activities are now channeled through his office, including the Better Life Options Program (in partnership with CEDPA), international volunteer programs, and communications programs like the YMCA Digital Computer Studio and the YMCA website. Completed Youth Leaders Program 1995 (YLFP 4)
South Africa Fulufhelo Ratshikhopha Ratshikhopha Director of Administrative Services for the Sport, Arts, and Culture Department in Petersburg. She left her position at the Northern Province Youth Commission last December. Ratshikhopha expressed that the Youth Development and Reproductive Health training she attended has contributed in many ways to her development and strength as a young woman. She now has the opportunity to be involved in the process of transforming her country and knows that “regardless of age or gender we all could make a difference given the opportunity.” Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 1999 (YDRH 8)
South Africa Nompumelelo Zama Nompumelelo Zama now directs CEDPA’s southern African pilot education program, Towards a Better Future. The pilot is being implemented with partners in Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland, and targets young girls ages 10-14 years old. Mpume first served as a technical consultant to the project during the curriculum adaptation workshop and then in November 2007 became the project director. Mpume says that the highlight of her career was when she attended a CEDPA Master Trainer’s course in Accra, Ghana in July of 1997. She was impressed by the experienced trainers she met from the rest of Africa, and says it was then she made a decision that she wanted to work for CEDPA.(July 2008) Completed Other Regional/Country Workshops
Sudan Jedidah Mwawingwa Mwawingwa is currently working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Southern Sudan, focused mainly on reproductive health and capacity building. Prior to this position, Jedidah worked for AMREF on child survival and development. In September 1994, she joined the IRC in Rwanda, where she was posted for 16 months, then handed off the program to the government. Six months later Mwawingwa came into her current position with IRC Southern Sudan. Completed Women in Management 1992 (WIM 27)
Sudan Rasha Almahdi Rasha Almadhi works for Sudan's National Population Council, helping to set social and family policy in the country. She says she began using the skills she learned during the CEDPA workshop as soon as she returned to Sudan. Her newly obtained skills in fundraising helped her to win two major grants. She also reports that she impressed her supervisors with her monitoring and evaluation skills so much that this last year they increased the funding for training, allowing four of her colleagues to gain new skills in monitoring and evaluation. Rasha was recently promoted to the Head of the Policy and Programs department, and she attributes the promotion to the new skills she gained during last year's workshop. (Nov. 2007) Completed WomenLead in Promoting Peace and Stability 2006 (WLEAD 2)
Swaziland Siphiwe Hlophe CEDPA alumna Siphiwe Hlophe, Director of Swaziland’s Positive Living for Life, spoke at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto. She was part of panel on “HIV, Gender and Development: The Poverty, Malnutrition and Food Security Cycle” with UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis. Hlophe was awarded the first ever “Fighting Spirit” award from AIDS Action during the conference. Hlophe reported on the agricultural work of her organization with widows and orphans in Swaziland. They run community farms that provide food staples for people living with HIV and AIDS, teach families affected by AIDS how to grow kitchen gardens to grow their own food, and produce seedlings for sale. Featured in CEDPA’s recent WomenLead magazine, Hlophe participated in the last year’s WomenLead in the Fight Against AIDS training. Completed WomenLead in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 2005 (WLEAD 1)
Tanzania Grace Mtawali Mtawali consults on Intrah’s PRIME project in Tanzania and Pathfinder International’s African Youth Alliance program in Uganda. In August 2001, she had retired from her full-time position at Intrah, a global health development assistance organization. Completed Women in Management 1979 (WIM 4)
Tanzania Esabella Neeso Neeso works as Program Assistant for Community Home-Based Care at Pathfinder International in Tanzania. Previously, she was employed at the Child Concern Consortium. Neeso also participated in CEDPA’s Youth Development and Reproductive Health Workshop in 1999. Completed Women in Management 1997 (WIM 33)
Tanzania Irenei Kiria Kiria continues to work with Youth Action Volunteers. The group is implementing a new project designed to train out-of-school youth on life skills with training sessions based on CEDPA’s Choose a Future! training manuals. In the effort to encourage widespread use of the manual in Tanzania, they are translating it into Kiswahili. Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 1999 (YDRH 9)
Tanzania Keziah May Kapesa Advocating for safe motherhood, Kapesa held a recent press conference to call the Tanzania media to action in covering the issue. As the Executive Secretary of Private Nurses/Midwives Association of Tanzania (PRINMAT), Kapesa said the media should closely work with organizations working to improve safe motherhood to increase awareness on the issue. “This would go a long way to change the wrong perception by the people that giving birth is only a woman’s concern,” she stated. In a recent e-mail, Kapesa said she owes a lot of her advocacy and management skills to the Women in Management training she attended in 2000. With skills learned at the WIM workshop, she has established a monitoring and evaluation program to track program results. Her advocacy skills helped her reach the Deputy Minister for Disaster and HIV Prevention Campaign to promote midwife training on HIV counseling. She explained, “The Minister was happy to learn that there is a group of midwives serving women at the grassroots communities in pregnancy and child birth.” She added, “I have managed to reach and talk to those influential people because at CEDPA I was taught communication and how to talk in difficult situations.” Headquartered in Dar es Salaam, PRINMAT consists of nurses and midwives who work in local communities and focus on maternal and child health. Completed Women in Management 2000 (WIM 36)
Tanzania Hon. Lediana Mafuru Mng’ong’o Elected to the Tanzanian parliament in 2000, Mng’ong’o uses her position as Chair of the Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV/AIDS to campaign for the rights of women and children affected by HIV. She has lobbied her fellow parliamentarians, along with women leaders and government ministers, to break the silence about HIV and reduce stigma. Mng’ong’o holds roundtables with parliamentarians and people living with HIV/AIDS, and makes home visits to people receiving treatment, to align policymaking with the realities and needs of people’s lives. Mng’ong’o was part of the Women in Management program in 2000, where she said she was urged by her fellow participants to get involved in politics. Completed Women in Management 2000 (WIM 36)
Uganda Debbie Kaddu-Serwadda Kaddu-Serwadda currently works as the East Africa Representative for Ashoka, a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs. Kaddu-Serwadda works to influence local and international policy related to gender-based violence against children and women. Her active involvement in human rights advocacy against the violation of children and women's rights led to the establishment of a local network of child protection activists and practitioners (Empower Children & Communities Against Abuse - ECCAA), and she currently serves as chairperson of this group. Kaddu-Serwadda explains that "ECCAA is my life," and although she is not as involved in the day-to-day work of the group, she continues to play a strong role in their activities, partnering with local governments and organizations on issues related to HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and other important issues. Completed Women in Management 2003 (WIM 39)
Uganda Samuel Watulatsu Watulatsu founded the Foundation for Development of Needy Communities in 1996 to enhance development through effective community participation towards self-reliance for sustainable development in Uganda. Under Watulatsu’s leadership as Chief Executive Officer, the organization continues to grow and expand its work. He promotes and fosters partnerships with a number of international organizations. Completed Youth, Development & Reproductive Health 1999 (YDRH 9)
Uganda Sam Serunkuuma Serunkuuma is working as an HIV/AIDS advisor under the Ministry of Health and Reproductive Health in the Republic of Kiribati, a Pacific island nation. He is currently working with a task force to create a five-year work plan for obtaining global funding for the program. Completed Institution Building 2000 (IB 11)
Uganda Proscovia Namakula CEDPA met up with CEDPA alumna and Ugandan advocate Proscovia Namakula at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto. As the national coordinator for the National Forum of People Living with HIV/AIDS Networks in Uganda, Namakula has increased her focus on developing collaboration among the many national and international networks of people living with HIV/AIDS. She would like to see more networks work together to elevate shared advocacy goals and eliminate competition for funding. Featured in CEDPA’s WomenLead magazine, Namakula participated in the 2005 WomenLead in the Fight Against AIDS training. Completed WomenLead in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 2005 (WLEAD 1)
Ukraine Svitlana Moroz Moroz conducted a two-day seminar in December 2005 based on CEDPA’s “WomenLead in the Fight Against AIDS” workshop. Moroz is the chairperson of the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV in the Ukraine state of Donetsk. Fifteen women, including social workers, psychologists, and clients, participated in the training. Moroz declared, “It was a success, and I feel really proud and satisfied.” Completed WomenLead in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 2005 (WLEAD 1)
Zambia Evans Banda Banda directs the Africa Directions Buaze Community Youth Centre in Lusaka. The Centre provides a variety of activities for youth from family planning and HIV counseling to sports and community drama. Read More. Completed Youth, Leadership & Reproductive Health 1997 (YDRH 6)
Zambia John Nsama Working diligently to open the Kafue Community Radio Station in Zambia this August, Nsama is excited about this station. Currently training news readers and announcers, he recruited the station’s employees from a pool of local youth and women. The station’s programs will focus on advocacy for women’s issues, especially marginalization and abuse. Programs will also promote HIV prevention and treatment, as well as youth’s issues. Nsama plans for the programs to educate the Kafue’s community members on social issues pertinent to the small town. He explains, “Though just about 45 minutes drive from the country's capital town of Lusaka, Kafue is rural and lacking most facilities that anyone would take for granted.” The town has a high rate of HIV infections, and is also plagued with malaria. Nsama co-founded the station and serves as its chair. He also helped set up the station’s parent organization, Kafue Communications and Development Trust, with other community leaders. Completed Youth, Leadership & Reproductive Health 1998 (YDRH 7)
Zimbabwe Tendayi Westerhof Westerhof of Zimbabwe received the 2005 Auxillia Chimusoro special mention award for becoming a role model through her candid discussion of HIV/AIDS issues. An HIV-positive activist, Westerhof founded the Public Personalities against AIDS Trust, an organization that encourages public figures in Zimbabwe to declare their HIV status. The award announcement appeared in Zimbabwe newspaper The Standard. Completed WomenLead in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 2005 (WLEAD 1)