Marhabo Zununova is the founder and Chairperson of the Dushanbe-based NGO Marriage and Family (Tajikistan), which was founded on June, 19, 2002 and re-registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan on May 19, 2008. As an active and religious lady by nature and aware of the concerns of Tajik women and families, Ms. Zununova decided to create Marriage and Family. The organization helps Tajik couples to overcome day-to-day difficulties in their lives as well as to help young couples to create strong families. Her motto is “A stable family leads to a stable society.”
Ms. Zununova has worked in various positions ranging from teaching history to students in higher school to being the head of personnel division and editor-in-chief of Tajikistan’s newspaper Sobitiya, published in Russian. Since the creation of Marriage and Family, she has combined her main jobs with her community service in the NGO and has helped many desperate persons and disintegrated families start new lives.
Ms. Zununova graduated from the Faculty of History of the Tajik State University in 1980. She is a known person in Tajikistan, who has published over 140 newspaper articles dedicated to various aspects of life in the country. Ms. Zununova has raised three children.
Hawanatu Sesay is the Administrative Secretary for the Sierra Leone Muslim Missionaries Women’s Group and is a Working Committee member for the Federation of Muslim Women Association in Sierra Leone (FOMWASAL). Both groups advocate for the rights of women in Islam.
Ms. Sesay is one of the presenters on a weekly radio program that the SLDMMUM engages in. The organization also has a school where women are taught about their religion, rights, and obligations. They participate in discussions about equality in the Muslim family, and the need for women to encourage their female children to go to school, amongst other issues. Her work with FOMWASAL deals mainly with stopping violence against women, and she is involved with workshop to help vulnerable women. This work is mostly sponsored by OXFAM.
Ms. Sesay has attended several conferences outside of Sierra Leone on behalf of both groups. She has also implemented several community programs sponsored by both the government and NGOs. Ms. Sesay also works for the Ihsan Foundation for West Africa.
Somayya Jabarti is the Managing Editor of Arab News, a Saudi English newspaper based in Jeddah. Ms. Jabarti has worked for Arab News for the past six years, where she started out as a local desk editor and advanced to become the Deputy National desk editor, and Executive Editor. She is currently the first Saudi woman to make Managing Editor. Ms. Jabarti has participated in various media focused trainings and workshops such as the 2008 MENA Media Emerging Leaders Fellowship, London Middle East Institute & the Commonwealth Journalists Association reporting course. She was also involved in planning and organizing the Women’s First Media Forum held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2006.
Prior to working in the media, Ms. Jabarti has worked in various fields such as education and marketing research. She has also been involved in volunteer work such as summer programs for youth and overseas refugee camps. She was also a member, participant and media representative in the first Saudi civic delegation during King Abdullah’s first state visit to India in 2006.
Her areas of interest include support groups as well as the empowerment and emancipation of women and youth. Ms. Jabarti received her B.A. and M.A. in European Language and Literature from King Abdulaziz University.
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Maha Akeel is the Managing Editor of the quarterly magazine, OIC Journal, issued by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the UN with 57 member states and is the collective voice of the Muslim world. The OIC Journal reflects the work of the OIC in various fields including women’s affairs. In November 2008, the Organization adopted the “OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women.” The OIC member states committed to take actions to improve the outcomes for women in education, health, political participation, economic sustainability, social justice and well-being, and work-life balance.
Before joining the OIC three years ago, Ms. Akeel worked as a journalist for five years. She participated in local and international workshops and forums on women’s rights and the role of the media. She also wrote opinion articles about Saudi women, and was interviewed by several regional and international newspapers and broadcast channels including the Wall Street Journal, BBC World and Sky News. She is currently working on publishing a book on Saudi women in the media in English and Arabic. Ms. Akeel received her university education in the US and has an MBA and an MA in Communications and Cultural Studies.
Johaira Wahab is the Secretary General and a founding member of the Alliance of Muslim Advocates of Law (AMAL), an organization of Muslim law students, lawyers, paralegals and legal advocates based in Metro Manila, working primarily for the legal empowerment of Muslims in the Philippines. She has also worked as a research associate at the University of the Philippines Institute of Human Rights. In these capacities, and in her personal engagements as a student, she highlighted issues relating to Muslims residing in the Philippines and the social, legal, and political aspects of equality and human rights in Islam. She has also worked on the preservation of both the political and historical integrity of the longest running internal armed conflict in Asia – the Bangsamoro struggle.
Since December 2007, Ms. Wahab has actively participated in the pioneering series of local trainings and study sessions on Islam, gender and human rights conducted by the Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro in the Philippines. In the summer of 2007, she attended the diploma course program at the Institut Internationale des droits de l’Homme (IIDH) in Strasbourg, France. Ms. Wahab is 24 years old, an incumbent editor of the Philippine Law Journal, and has just recently been conferred the degree of Juris Doctor by the College of Law of the University of the Philippines.
Laisa Masuhud Alamia is currently a partner at ALCAP Law Offices where she handles cases on Civil and Family law, Shari’a law, Criminal law, Election law, Agrarian Reform, Human Rights Law, and Conveyance, among other types of law.
Ms. Alamia is the Program Manager and one of the founders of Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro (Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro), a network of Muslim women’s rights advocates in Muslim Mindanao, the Philippines. The network works on gender issues within the discourse of Islamic legal theory vis-à-vis women’s human rights and gender and supports grassroots initiatives through its member organizations. The network is also involved in raising the level of awareness of open-minded Muslim women and men for advocacy on Muslim women’s rights through various activities such as trainings and advocacy campaigns.
In addition to her other jobs, Ms.Alamis is also the Program Coordinator and Secretary of the Board of the Bangsamoro Lawyers’ Network (BLN), a NGO of Muslim lawyers and advocates working with the Bangsamoro in using the law to advance their rights and aspirations. Previously, Ms. Alamia was the Senior Economic Development Specialist at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Office IX for seven years. She also used to teach at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
Ms. Alamia is a registered nurse. She graduated Cum Laude and was valedictorian from the Ateneo de Zamboanga University. She finished her LLB at Western Mindanao State University.
Loren Hallilah I. Lao is an Instructor of the English Department of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), Mindanao State University (MSU), Marawi City. Ms. Lao is also a Lecturer of the College of Law and the Communication and Media Studies Department of the same University. A Muslim Maranao, she volunteers as the Treasurer of the Young Moro Professionals Network, Inc. (YMPN)-Mindanao, a network of young Muslim Moro professionals who aim to pool and use the varied professions of the members so that they can improve the situation of the Filipino Muslims through peaceful means. Ms. Lao is active in the Study Sessions of Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, a group of Muslim women advocating for the rights of Muslim women using Islam as a framework. Also a writer, she has written feature stories and documentations in various publications about the Muslim Moro women and their quest for equality. These include “Unveiling the Law,” “This Ali Fights Discrimination” and “Maranao Mestizas Standing Up Against Discrimination.” She also writes fiction such as “The Trip to Forbidden Land” and “Good Old Bapa” which appeared in the anthology “The Many Ways of Being Muslim.” Ms. Lao is also an attorney.
Raja Rantisi Hamayel is an English teacher at Birzeit University. Ms. Hamayel is also a women’s activist and writes weekly articles for the prominent newspaper Al-Ayyam. She is a board member of numerous organizations including the Palestinian Business Women’s Association (ASALA) and the Cultural Center for Al-Bireh Municipality.
Ms. Hamayel has participated in many conferences and workshops on women’s issues. She has also represented Palestinian women in many national and international conferences. She has participated in national campaigns against honor killing and is in favor of issuing laws to eliminate this phenomenon. Ms. Hamayel has published more than five stories for children. She is married and the mother of three children.
