Heba Metwally is a researcher, English translator, and a media specialist at the State Information Service of the Egyptian Ministry of Information, where she has worked since 1997. Ms. Metwally is currently a PhD. Candidate in the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University. She is also a board member of the Egyptian Translators and Linguists’ Association, as well as the supervisor of its Online Forum for English Language & Literature.
Ms. Metwally has previously worked as an expert and media coordinator at the Population and Migration Department for the League of Arab States. Ms. Metwally has obtained a B.A. in English literature at Ain Shams University in 1996, a two-years-Diploma in Journalism in the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University in 2001, and a M.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo in 2007. In 2008 Ms. Metwally attended two academic media conferences in London, and presented papers there.
Ms. Metwally’s research interests include media and journalism, and investigating the image of women in the Egyptian media. Ms. Metwally’s Masters’ thesis titled, “The Role of Egyptian Film in Stereotyping Single Women”, focuses on how the media played a role in constructing the image of spinsterhood in Egyptian Society.
Khadija Haffajee, originally from South Africa, is an educator and community activist in Ottawa, Canada. Ms. Haffajee is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Canada (CAIR- CAN), and on the national Board of Religions for Peace-Canada. She has given lectures on Islam in many schools, churches and universities locally, nationally and internationally. Additionally, Ms. Haffajee mentors university and college young women and reverts through study circles, book clubs, etc.
For more than 30 years Ms. Haffajee has held leadership positions in local, national and international Muslim associations. In 1997 she was the first female elected to the Majlis ash Shura of the Islamic Society of North America and continued there until 2008.
Ms. Haffajee worked with Afghan refugees in Pakistan during the Soviet War. She was sent on a lecture tour of Malawi and Zimbabwe in 1985. Ms. Haffajee also represented Canadian Muslim women at the UN conference on Women in Beijing China in 1995, the International Muslim Women’s Union in Sudan in 1996, and the World Conference on Religion and Peace in Amaan, Jordan in 1999. As a member of an interfaith team of women she worked on a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded project in Afghanistan in 2003.
Ms. Haffajee has received awards from many organizations as well as the City of Ottawa.
Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva is an author and a journalist who writes about women’s rights in Uzbekistan. From 1995 to 2005, Dr. Tokhtakhodjaeva was Chairperson of the Women’s Resource Center in Tashkent (TWRC), one of the first civil society organizations to talk about the rights of women and the social problems of urban and rural women. TWRC collected and distributed information about cases of discrimination against women, domestic violence, trafficking and income generating opportunities. TWRC also held seminars and events for the enlightment of women. In 2005, after the Andijan revolt, TWRC was closed as were most independent NGOs. Dr. Tokhtakhodjaeva is the author of a number of books in Russian and English. In 2003 she was elected ‘Women of the Year’ for her activity and publication of a bulletin for women.
Margot Badran, a historian of the Middle East and Islamic societies and a specialist in gender studies, is a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Previously Ms. Badran was Edith Kreeger Wolf Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Religion and Preceptor at the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa at Northwestern University. She has lectured widely in academic and popular forums in the United States, as well as in Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. Her latest books include: Feminism in Islam: Secular and Religious Convergences (2009) and Feminism beyond East and West: New Gender Talk and Practice in Global Islam (2006). She also writes on feminism and gender for the Al Ahram Weekly in Cairo.
Arifa Nazle is the Manager of Communications for the Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre. The center was opened with the purpose of integrating consciousness raising with a development perspective and initiating projects that translate advocacy into action. For more than 30 years SG has facilitated women’s empowerment by increasing their access to information, resources, skills and decision making, and helped to bring about positive changes in policies, laws and practices.
Ms. Nazle is a member of the AWID forum. She is also a freelance journalist. Her interests are in the area of human rights and feminism in the Muslim world at a grassroots level. She also enjoys literature, writing, and developing written/visual materials (manuals, information kits, pamphlets and posters). She is the mother of two children.
Visit Arifa Nazle’s translation by clicking here https://www.translationdirectory.com/translators/english_urdu/arifa_nazle.php
Fatou Waggeh is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Research on Women’s Health Productivity and the Environment (BAFROW), a local NGO established 20 years ago in The Gambia. BAFROW contributes to national and community development efforts through its social and economic empowerment programs which are geared towards improving the quality of life of the Gambian people, particularly women. As Director of BAFROW since 1994, Ms Waggeh has developed, managed and implemented numerous integrated multi-sectoral programs to improve the reproductive health of women, men and young people and enhance their socio-economic situation. Among her numerous achievements is the establishment of wellness clinics with clinical services for over 200,000 people, provision of functional literacy and civic education for women who are now involved in decision making particularly on issues that affect their health and their rights, and the establishment of SMEs and banking and savings schemes (including access to credit ).
Born in The Gambia, Fatou Waggeh has over 15 years of progressively responsible professional experience at international, national, regional and district levels. She has received numerous awards including The Officer of the Order of the Republic of the Gambia – ORG.
Nadia al-Sakkaf has been Editor in Chief of the Yemen Times since 2005. Ms. Al-Saakaf has been working in the media since July 2000, when she joined the Yemen Times as a translator and reporter. In September 2000 she became an assistant editor. Her areas of expertise are development issues, gender and media in the Middle East, especially Yemen.
In 2003, Mrs. Al-Sakkaf joined Oxfam-GB and worked in the Humanitarian Program as well as for the Poverty Reduction Strategy paper. She was also the media person for the organization in Yemen. She has also worked as a System Analyst at the Arab Experts Center for Consultancy and Systems.
Ms. Al-Sakkaf is a member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and the International Journalists Syndicate. She was also a student member of Amnesty International while studying in the UK. Because of her work, she has traveled extensively and has contacts with many people around the world. She is active with many organizations defending freedom of expression, human rights and democracy.
Ms. Al-Sakkaf was the first recipient of the Gebran Tueni Award in 2006, given by the World Association of Newspapers and An-Nahar Newspaper in Beirut. She has an MSc in Information Systems Management from the UK, and a BE in computer science. She is married and has one daughter.
Sima Quraishi is the Executive Director of the Muslim Women Resource Center located in Chicago, Illinois. It is the only Muslim Women organization in Illinois. Ms. Quraishi is also on the board of several community-based organizations. She has attended several international women leadership conferences in Europe as well as in the US. Born in Afghanistan, she was raised in both Pakistan and Iran until she immigrated to the United States when she was 10 years old.
Ms. Quraishi received her BA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2002 and received a Master with honors in Community Development from North Park University in 2003. She is married with three children.
