Online Event: Reflections on a Contemporary Ethiopian Feminist Movement (19th February)

By Africa in Words on 16 February , 2019 • ( 0 )

The first Webinar (online seminar) of the Governance for Development in Africa Webinar Series will premiere on the 19th of February 2019 at 5pm GMT.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the Centre of African Studies at SOAS and SOAS Radio are delighted to announce that the speaker for the first webinar will be Dr Sehin Teferra, who completed her PhD at SOAS University of London in 2015 under the Mo Ibrahim Foundation PhD Scholarship programme.

Image courtesy of GDAI webpage

Sehin Teferra, a Mo Ibrahim Scholar (2010-2013) is the co-founder of ‘Setaweet’, a contemporary Ethiopian feminist movement. Setaweet was formulated while Sehin was a PhD Candidate in Gender Studies at SOAS (2015), and took root as an informal collective of Ethiopian feminists who gather monthly to co-learn and support one another. These Setaweet Circles have taken place on themes as diverse as feminist relationships , ‘Hijab as a Feminist Choice’ and building Strategic Sisterhood.

Setaweet gatherings have since branched into quarterly Open Sessions which are open to women and men and which feature published authors or public personalities who discuss aspects of aspects of Ethiopian culture and literature from a feminist perspective. The theme for the Open Sessions for the current Ethiopian year is ‘Women and the Ethiopian Arts.’

Furthermore, Setaweet leads or takes part in periodic campaigns such as Arif Abbat, a photo competition and exhibition of engaged fatherhood, and Pagume Activism, an online campaign against sexism held every year during the five days of the last month of the Ethiopian year (August-September).

Lastly, Setaweet has in the last four years emerged as a leading actor in the small but vibrant women’s rights movement in Ethiopia and has co-convened a series of sessions where women’s rights activists have formulated their demands of our government which is in the middle of a deep reform process.

In this webinar, Dr Teferra will reflect on her personal journey in feminist activism in Ethiopia, and the lessons that she has learnt in leading a growing movement, with its myriad of challenges and opportunities to effect change in Ethiopia.

The online event will be chaired by Professor Fareda Banda, current CAS chair.

Find out more here.

Format:
The format of the Webinar Series will be an hour-long-event, comprising of a 30 minutes lecture, 10 minutes for the chair’s question and 20 minutes open Q&A through the live chat.
The recorded event will later be available on our Governance in Africa youtube channel and on our Governance in Africa website.

The series:
The Africa webinars are one part of CAS’ Governance for Development in Africa programme, supported by and in collaboration with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

To learn more see the page or visit www.governanceinafrica.org

Contact email: am131@soas.ac.uk