Self Help Africa has assembled a strong international panel of young African voices for our 5th annual webinar to mark International Women’s Day.
The event takes place on Thursday, 6th March next from 11am-12.15pm, and will hear contributions from Nina Mbah, the Nigerian creator of ‘African Climate Stories‘, from Wissal Ben Moussa, Moroccan co-founder of environmental NGO ‘From Sand to Green,‘ Cork-based climate activist Sumaya Mohammad, and Self Help Africa’s Ethiopian gender and nutrition advisor Sara Demissew.
They will each share their unique stories and perspectives on this year’s IWD theme, ‘All Women & Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,’ and participate in a short panel discussion.
Self Help Africa’s International Women’s Day Webinar has become a central part of our annual calendar, and provides an opportunity to hear voices from countries of the global south share their stories and experiences.
To find out more and to register to attend this year’s hour-long Zoom webinar click on the link here:
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY SPEAKERS:
WISSAL BEN MOUSSA (Morocco)
Co-founder, From Sand to Green
Wissal Ben Moussa is the co-founder and chief agriculture officer at ‘From Sand to Green’, a French based NGO whose mission is to regenerate degraded arid lands and create thriving ecosystems through regenerative agriculture.
With an expertise in agro-food engineering and innovation management, Wissal leads efforts at Sand to Green to restore soil health, boost biodiversity and balance sustainability with economic growth. A Moroccan by birth, she is passionate about combatting desertification, and developing solutions that can restore nature and support communities.
She spoke about her work at the Gender Caucus during the COP Summit in Riyadh, and talked about shining a light on the power of women in agriculture – not just as farmers, but as leaders, innovators and changemakers.
NINA MBAH (Nigeria)
African Climate Stories
Nina Mbah is a media producer and social entrepreneur who is seeking to create impact solutions using multimedia.
A co-founder and CEO of Monoversal Multimedia in Nigeria, she focuses on using visual storytelling to drive empathy, education and meaningful change.
She’s a graduate of the Nigerian University of Technology and Management, where she studied entrepreneurship, technology, and design.
She recently co-created the “African Climate Stories” a mini documentary series. Nina is particularly interested in new ways to use films and multimedia to tackle critical issues and finding innovative ways that can get them to reach people.
SUMAYA MOHAMMED (Ireland/Somalia)
Students’ Climate Action Network (SCAN)
As a 12-year-old student at Cork Educate Together, Sumaya Mohammad told the Irish parliament that she was “absolutely furious” with their inaction on climate change. Since that address to the Oireachtas Climate Action Committee in 2019, her passion for climate justice has not receded.
At the age of 16 she was a youth ambassador to the COP27 Summit in Egypt and became a co-founder of the Students’ Climate Action Network (SCAN). With SCAN she received a highly commended Young Enviromentalist Award for their project “Pull the Brakes/Climate Action Organisers.”
A second year student of Law at University College Cork and a Quercus Active Citizenship Scholar, Sumaya is also the associate general secretary for the global organisation ‘Somalis for Sustainability.’
SARA DEMISSEW (Ethiopia)
Self Help Africa Gender Advisor
Sara Demissew is Self Help Africa’s gender and nutrition advisor in Ethiopia.
A graduate of the University of Gondar in northern Ethiopia, where she studied Medicine, she is a health profession whose experience over the past decade has included clinical practice, public health, project management and gender-focused initiatives.
She has led the integration of nutrition-sensitive and gender strategies into programmes, and managed multi-sectoral health and nutrition projects that are designed for women and girls.
Sara’s diverse experiences reflect her commitment to improving health outcomes, empowering vulnerable populations, and fostering sustainable development in a country where women and girls continue to lag behind men on such critical indicators as income, agricultural productivity, literacy skills and access to healthcare.