 Good afternoon, my name is Nancy Lindborg, I'm the President of the US Institute of Peace, and I am so delighted to have a chance to welcome you here for a really extraordinary event that honors simply amazing women. They are here because of their courage, because of their valor, and because of their commitment to overcoming violence in their countries. This is very near to our heart and our mission here at the US Institute of Peace. We were founded by Congress some 35 years ago dedicated to the proposition that peace is very possible. It is ultimately a practical exercise and it is essential for our collective security. And the women who are here today as part of the US State Department Women of Courage awardees, each one of them has a story that is about working to make peace possible, working in very practical ways. So we are pleased, we are honored to be co-hosting with the US State Department, overcoming violence, a conversation with women of courage. And this will be a focus on women who are making peace possible in each of their countries. And I know I've had a chance to talk with a number of the women who are doing extraordinary work, their legislators, their lawyers, their human rights attorneys, they've started organizations. They are doing simply tremendous work and I wish that we could spend many, many hours hearing about their work and understanding how they're changing their communities and contributing to global peace at the same time. Let me just extend a very special welcome to the 2018 International Women of Courage awardees who are here with us today. Congratulations to each of you. Thank you for everything that you do. I hope you have a very enjoyable, a very productive time here in the United States. Know how much we appreciate everything that you do. And with that, I'm delighted to turn it over to my good colleague, Kathleen Kunist, who is the USIP's Director of Gender Policy and Strategy who has worked long and many years on these issues. Kathleen. Thank you, Nancy, and thank you for your leadership on this agenda of women, peace and security. Well, good afternoon, everyone. We made it through the snow days and we're also very happy to have you here. We're joined by webcast as well, so I want to say hello to everyone near and far who might not have been able to join us today. Well, it is a real honor to be able to co-host this event with the Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Program and also the International Visitors Leadership Program. I hope you all will consider tweeting this afternoon at hashtag Women of Courage, and then please follow these women for the next three weeks as they go out throughout the United States to really be diplomats from their countries and to learn about the United States. Well, for those of you who might not know very much about this award, it is in its 12th year. This is the only State Department award that pays tribute to emerging women leaders worldwide. And this special award recognizes women around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership and advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment. And as you will hear in just a few minutes, these women have often become leaders and have had great personal risk and sacrifice. Since the inception of this award in 2007, the State Department has recognized 120 women from more than 65 different countries. The process is one in which U.S. diplomatic missions, they nominate a woman of courage from their respective host countries and the finalists are selected and approved by senior department officials. Following these meetings here in Washington and the actual honoree ceremony tomorrow afternoon, they will travel to eight different U.S. cities and they will work with both organizations, nonprofit, businesses to really have a dialogue about strategies and ideas to empower women both in the United States and abroad. So a very warm welcome to all of our honorees and to our audience, please know that in addition to the nine honorees present today, they are joined by their great interpreters. So you may hear them on the other side of this wall. We want to really thank them for their dedicated service during today's program and then throughout the three weeks. 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. stated, those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war. King recognized that good leadership is needed to organize for peace. It is a defining starting point, especially as he emphasized that a genuine leader is not someone who only seeks like-minded people, but a leader is someone who brings people with different ideas together to make positive change possible. The women you will meet this afternoon are leaders who love peace and know how to organize for change. The stories told by these women will remind us again that most leaders are not born leaders. Instead, leaders like these women emerge from tough challenges, sometimes nearly impossible challenges. And they transform their leadership and harsh realities through their imagination into something new and something bold to improve the lives of others. Moreover, today their stories will help us demystify the human force of resilience and recognize it in the human face of women. These women are courageous, creative, clear-sighted and relentless leaders who redefine the concept of power in their pursuit of a better world. As an anthropologist, I know firsthand the power of stories and the power of stories to change lives. Over the next three weeks, these women will be telling their stories to hundreds and hundreds of people. And over the next hour, their stories will teach us. Their stories will remind us that we are not alone in our own struggles against injustice and unfairness. That it is, in fact, our togetherness that is a defining and transformative force to make change happen for those whose dignity has been stolen by circumstance. So it is now my great privilege to introduce to you each of the 2018 Women of Courage. I will ask each awardee to stand and remain standing so that you can recognize and celebrate each of them. I would be grateful if you could say your applause until the end. And I will tell you that three of the awardees will join me in a panel discussion here on the stage, and then we will open it up for questions and answers from you, the audience, and the honorees. So I will ask the honorees for their forgiveness because I don't speak many of the languages in which their names are well pronounced, so I will do my very best. But I would like it if Dr. Ulissa Villanueva of Honduras, please stand. She is the director of the Honduran Attorney General's Forensic Medicine Department. Ailea Calafsale is from Iraq, and she is a volunteer humanitarian. Do I see her? Ah, all right. From Italy, sister Maria Elena Barini, nominated by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. She is a Catholic sister of the Sisters of Charity of the Saint-Jean Antideuré, and works in the Central African Republic. Aima Umarova of Kazakhstan, thank you. She is the defense attorney and co-founder of Human Rights Lawyers Public Fund, working with domestic violence in her country. Dr. Faridi Roushidi of the Republic of Kosovo, founder and executive director of the Kosovo Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims. Goliva Mukassarasi of Rwanda. She is the founder coordinator of the Solidarity for the Development of Widows and Orphans to promote self-sufficiency and livelihoods. June Syracan Katerin Sirie of Thailand. Lawyer and co-founder of the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. She has friends here. Fans. Roya Sadat of Afghanistan. Roya is a filmmaker and founder of Roya Film House and Maluma Saeed of Mauritania, member of parliament, the Mauritanian National Assembly. Please join me now and giving them a warm round of celebration and applause. Thank you women and I'm now going to invite the panelists to the stage. Roya, June, Maluma. Great, thank you. Sure, we have the right equipment and you should know that we'll be on channel one for English. So you might want to take a moment here and go ahead and make sure that you have. Turn around this one. Good. Wonderful. I'm a small kid. You're working? We just want to make sure everything's set up. All right. So let me explain how we hope to run this panel today. I've asked each of the panelists to share their story with you. As you can imagine, there are six other stories and I hope you'll follow them on the internet, on the website of the State Department. Each story is compelling and you will hear that as well with our panelists today. I'm going to ask them several rounds of questions and then I will open it up to you, the audience. And so I hope you will be thinking of questions or comments that you would like to share with them. Thank you. Again, I thank the interpreters for their help today and we will begin. We are going to begin with Roya Siddharth. Roya is a creative thinker who refuses to be silenced in the face of threats from conservative elements within Afghan society. Using cinema and television as platforms for advocacy, she is promoting positive change by telling the untold stories of Afghan women and girls. Roya, can you begin by helping us understand how you came into this stream of storytelling? I think a film and television is a very powerful tool. What was your inspiration and when did this all begin? Thank you. Let me first say hello everybody in the aspect and the thanksful from Foreign Ministry of United States, especially US Embassy in Afghanistan that they recognize me as a courage woman. I would like to say we have many courage women in Afghanistan and I am the symbol of them in one of them. When our friends say for me you have a panel in the United States Peace Institute, something's coming in my mind that I'm going here in Peace Institute to talk as a person that they never leave in a peace. I born when in Afghanistan was on Russian war in 1983. After that I spent the civil war and then the Taliban coming and I cannot go out of home for five years. So I would like to say it's the peace become the only hope for me to see my people live in the peace. Now I start with myself. I study law and political faculty when I, the 2011 after we can start again study and can go out from home. But it was in my dream and I love cinema and I believe cinema but because in my city we don't have cinema faculty and cinema university, then I think in the social subject like law and political it can help me also. So I study law and then I start to write a script when I was at home during the Taliban and I wrote my first film script in that time. And then after the 11th September when something's changed in Afghanistan, I make my first film. In 2004, some people special in Minister of Culture in Afghanistan, they introduced me to be the first woman film directors. It's mean before me we didn't have woman film director. So it's mean my people and my society really didn't understand about the cinema and the special woman filmmaker. So it was a big challenges for me in the beginning when I started. I make four or five film in that time and then got a scholarship to Ishan Film Academy for short training and I live in Herod and then invited with Tulu TV. It's the biggest TV station in Afghanistan and I start to making the first Afghan TV drama. The most subject that I make it, it's about more than 20 documentary and four feature films. Most of them is about women rights and many problem, social problem. And also in 2003, me and my sister, we founded the first international woman film festival in Afghanistan and in 2004, we founded the first woman film company, the name is Roya Film House. And we was, me and my sister and other my colleagues, too serious to attention and social problems, especially the points that it's not easy to people to talk about it. Very same like taboo subject and especially about women rights, about law in Afghanistan. As you know, we are faced to, of course, you hear about Afghanistan, about tourists, Talib, Daesh, it's part of war in Afghanistan. But in the same times, we are faced with fundamentalist people and religious extremists. This is the most problem in Afghanistan to special, it's a big challenges for the people who work in media and cinema in culture. But I believe and why I'm too serious during these 15 years with many challenges and I doing very hard working. Because I believe in a country like Afghanistan, when we talk about peace, when we talk about women rights, when we talk about human rights, the peace is not like a project, not like a name. The peace is a culture. When we want to change something in this country, so it's need we do something so the people mind is changed because they lose one generation before me, two generation before me, they use education, economic during the war. So when we want to rebuild this country and we fighting for justice, so it's need to be serious in culture. So I'm happy after many challenges that I don't want to focus for each one right now. I know I have a very short time. Thank you, sir. I would like to say I got very good result. Right now, my company is one of the active company in Afghanistan. Me and my sister and during these five years, my husband also, we got together, got more than 40 international awards and we start new chapter to talk through our films inside of Afghanistan and many countries around the world. Right, what do you think the impact of your films are having? Have you had a way to figure out or to understand more the impact on a day-to-day basis? What do you see? I hope my English is enough okay to understand me. You know, one thing is I'm as a filmmaker. I tell stories, many stories. And another thing, I'm a story. You know, when I start as a first woman filmmaker, it was many challenges. Lots of people ask me, actually what doing the filmmaker, what you're doing? This is, so it's mean not only tell the story, it's a responsibility to tell for people how much the cinema is important for you and in the special for a woman rights. So right after me, right now we have some woman film directors and they have working, making short film, documentary films and it's mean my work, I think it's a good effect because after me, my sister is starting to make documentary film. It was easier for her than me. She didn't need to talk with family with my father because I spent this period. And after her, my other sister, she's now a photographer and also some other woman, young woman. For now we have some woman that they are going and selected art university special, the cinema department. So now become like a choice. And most difficult story you've had to tell in your films. What is, give us a little flavor of one of the stories. Yeah, I would like to give an example for my last film, the name is the title is later to the president. When I was a law faculty in 2006, I searched about the woman in the jail in Afghanistan. There was many stories, very enthusiastic in lots of corruption in the judge. So one part of this film is tell about the woman in the jail. And many things you, in the, when you watch the film, it's a story about young woman who have infusion because the people thinking she killed her husband and she tried to send a letter for the president. But inside the film you think many things and it's show a society in a transition period. Lots of fighting between the modern life and tradition life. Lots of things to say about ingesting society starting from family, society. And you see like a circle in this round of this circle, the government, civil society, general public people, family, all of them around this circle analyzing. So when we screened this film in the center of the Kabul in Sinomariano, you know in Afghanistan unfortunately during the Taliban they broken all Sinomar, most of the Sinomar. And now we have few active Sinomar in Kabul that only the men go to Sinomar, not women. So for this film screen lots of people coming to watch this film. And there is many scenes to have, to say lots of things about the woman rights. So I see inside of the film we have one scene to the woman slapping, wife slapping for her husband. And the people watch this film and also one part to tell about the ingesting law, especially the religious tradition law and the modern. So this two scene I was worried what will be the reaction of the people. You know it was the big achievement for me. I see the same reaction between this, many of them was unknowledge people. I see the same reaction which I was seen in heart of European, like Locarno Festa, like in French. So it's mean these people are going to change but it's important they faces for their problems. They talk on their problem and they let, get chance to talk about them. So film has become a way for people to reflect on their lives and to begin a dialogue. Yes, I believe if some people in the same times they don't accept and they don't believe when they watch the film. It's enough they thinking about their life, you know. But they need to, okay. What we'll do, we'll come back. We'll talk some more about some of the challenges but I want the audience to meet each of you. Thanks so much, Roya. We're going to turn to June. June, your life in Thailand has become a new world in the last five years. Can you tell us about one, you know, how you co-founded the Thai lawyers for human rights but what really initiated this part of your journey? Yes, so from Thailand I mean everybody would know Thailand for, you know, famous for tourism. Many of you may have been to Thailand. Just before I become the human rights lawyer I was just a simple girl grow up in a small city in the northeast of Thailand which is one of the poorest regions of the country. I was lucky that my family, although, you know, we, the family have, my family have three daughters, so only girls. I was lucky that my parents despite of financial difficulty they supported and tried to push their daughters for better, better education. So they sent me to Bangkok which is the capital to study, but again I was still a very simple Thai student with good grades. Up until I had a chance to come to the United States and I spent one year in Milwaukee with a host family who happened to be here to my surprise. Yay. To my surprise because I was going to tell the story, you know, related to my experience when I spent one year in Milwaukee. So my host family is an African American family. So at that age, it was the very first time that I exposed myself to such a diversity with the American culture, with the language, with the family, with friends, and she, my host mother, Gloria Ortiz especially to you. She took me trouble around the U.S. as much as she could. I don't know if you remember, but she was the one who actually told me about the story of the civil rights movement in the U.S. And I studied some of the history of the movement and the democracy movement. I think that was when I studied to broaden my perspective about the world. Then when I went back to Thailand, it was about the time that I need to choose, you know, the subject in a major of my university study. And I thought I was encouraged by volunteering with the tsunami victim back in 2004. And I met with the sea boat people who they were evacuated from the sea after the tsunami hit the coast of Thailand. And that was one scene where I doubt that because they don't have the citizen. They're not Thai people. They were subjected to discrimination and inequality. I asked my senior friend, what can I do? And he said, maybe if you have a knowledge of law, you can help people. You can help marginalized people, of honorable people. So I came back to Bangkok and then I decided I would do law. And then after four years in university, I studied out on human rights work until now. So coming back to the recent situation in Thailand in 2014, we had a military coup d'état. So they took the power from a civilian government. They repealed the constitution. They used military courts to try civilians. They declare martial law nationwide, which gave the military power to arrest and detain a person up to seven days without charges. That was a very immediate response of me and my colleagues. We knew that this is the time when human rights lawyers must step in front to defend the rights of the people. We got together, basically we just wanted to set up a legal center, make phone calls, receive the complaints of the arrest and detention and then we go to help them. We didn't think that we would continue to be in this organization called Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. We thought, well, the military government would give us back democracy maybe in two months. But we were wrong. Until now, almost four years. The situation remained the same. So we grew rapidly. We have now 20 people working for us, although if you compare to the workload, we're still in a very small number. But in the course of my work, I think my inspiration and motivation to work, even on facing challenges for representing the pro-democracy student activists and groups, is actually them. It's the courage, the bravery, the commitment of the pro-democracy student activists. I hope they're listening. I don't know what they are because many of them, some of them are in jail. And this is just a start. It's an ongoing process. So I just hope that you will feel that I'm here, not just to the people who's struggling for democracy and human rights back home. Can you give us just a little photo or image of maybe one of the stories of the students since they have so inspired you without naming names, but somebody who can give us a feeling for what they have gone through? So right after the coup, there's a lot of restrictions that have been imposed. As I said, the use of military courts and the Huntao military government ban a gathering of five persons for political purposes. When you say political purposes, it can be anything actually. Talking about human rights can be political as well. Politicians, academics, prominent figures, they were all under restrictions. So there's this small group of students that came out. They formed a group, they gathered, they moved simultaneously, naturally. Very small gathering, peaceful symbolic activities. For example, because they said five people cannot gather, so some of the students came up with some activities like standing one person each inside of the mall in Bangkok, and then reading like a book of 1984, eating sandwiches, holding sign, and guess what, they were arrested. But they didn't stop. They're starting coming out. There was a screening on the Hunger Games, the Hunger Games movie, and that from that movie there was the three finger salute like this. So they came out and started to call out people to encourage normal people to come out and say this is peaceful and this is how we can express that we disagree with the ruling. They did that, and guess what, they also arrested. For doing this, three salute finger. They didn't stop. So until there was a big case where I was involved, there were 14 student activists who marching and protested against the ruling, the ministry ruling, they were arrested and charged with violating a ban on political gathering of five persons and sedition. They were brought to ministry court at night. My colleagues and I, we went to the court to represent them. The military court decided to demand them for 12 days. They were sent to prison. Along that 12 days, they denied, they denied to request a bail because they insisted that they didn't do anything except the jurisdiction of military. So this is just one of the examples of the cases that are, and my colleagues being, you know, defending. And that's just a bless for us that we have worked with for this young courageous heart that, you know, made me move forward until today. Thank you, June. We're gonna come back around and I'm gonna ask you what some of the challenges are from day to day moving forward. I'm going to turn now to introduce you to Maluma Syed. She is the deputy member of parliament and Maluma, more town, Tanya, come, ask country to about- If you wanna hear English or if you wanna speak English, you hit the English button. If you wanna- This in the world. Can you give us a little feeling for your background, your journey, your woman of courage, experience, please. Thank you. My name is Maluma Syed, there was a technical problem, we apologize. My name is Maluma Syed, please. My name is Maluma Syed, I was born in a city called Apatelmeet before I start speaking. I would like to thank the American Embassy in Mauritania for giving me this award and for everybody who came here and participate in this program, either from the IVLP program or Congress or from Meridian and others who have worked in this program. My story is long, I cannot describe it in a short time, but I'm gonna give you some highlight of my program. This struggle started, I was born and enslaved a family, and I was lucky to be the first person in my family to go to school. That was not a, that was a big deal because the man who owned my family and he wanted to move my family, my mother to the city and then I was able to go to school. The second issue was that I did not continue my education because in high school there was a group of students who were slave or previous slaves who were men slaves. They studied at an occupier school and they wanted to defend themselves and they wanted to defend the slaves around them and they needed help and so I helped them and I was 17 years old so I participated with them. And then after that we had an opening and I participated in a party and I started helping anybody who was enslaved. I got into all of these programs that were, and then in 2006 there was a military coup and there was a quota for women and I was lucky to be one of these women who were nominated for my party and I became nominated for the Harateen party and I was on top of the, I was on top of the list and there were 13 men and one woman on the list and I was in our group one. And during that time I tried to be a peaceful woman who defended her rights that were not given to me and there were many issues, especially the issues of prisoners in jail and there was nobody defending women and I, but the government was opposed to anybody who was fighting for slaves rights and anybody who talked about this. So I became, through this simple experience in five years it was a simple experience but it gave me a impetus forward for me and for all the women who were in my social status as parliamentarians to be able to go in and I was elected again into 2013 and I am now in my second session in the parliament in 10 years. This was the last time, this became my way to defend women in discrimination, enslavement, anything of that part and as a, and especially women who were in this difficult situation it was very difficult. So then women were treated in such an awful way and her rights were definitely violated time after time. So I speak to the minister of justice so many times about these issues in prison and otherwise so I wanted to tell you these few things, few factors. Yes, there are many, many challenges that we are right now experiencing but these are challenges whether it's from our group Haratin which is marginalized but there are others, other groups and there are political groups that are pro and against the government but we are now as a group or as a partners in parliament we are actually coming together to defend the rights of women and those that are marginalized throughout society and especially women that are still enslaved in our country today. Kind of a picture is like what, when you talk about a woman being enslaved what is her day-to-day life like and more done? There are two kinds of women, one that are actually enslaved that's what they do, they work in cooking and working around the home, domestic duties, they may go out to feed the cattle, et cetera outside and then have some that are like in between women that have some rights, she has her own home, she goes to work, whether it's political, whether it's with government, whether teaching and so forth so women are really succeeding in all these areas and all these areas where women are actually working and they are succeeding and especially in the banking or financial matters, finance, they have done great in that arena as well. With new, are they making progress with new laws that have been put in place? That we have been, we are progressing right now, we have actually ministers that are women, we have ambassadors and we also have many in parliament and so right now we have about 19%, less than 20% representation in the parliament so now there are more ambitions on the part of women in Mauritania and so we could say it is slow but it is there at where it should be at this moment. To take these off here, I'm gonna ask the panelists to talk a little bit more about not only the challenges they see but how they would define success in terms of overcoming violence within your own society. What does that look like and how does your work contribute to that effort? Roy, I'm gonna come back to you. Thank you. So I think when I talk a few things about the challenges it's mean I think it's NFUB as a woman in Afghanistan in work, sensitive kind of work like cinema it's a big challenges. For example, in the beginning it was, it wasn't accept with my family I bought five years, my uncles, they don't come to my house to visit us when I start my first film. So a kind of job like making film, acting, music or working in media, this is a kind of sensitive job in Afghanistan for women. Another challenges, security. You know, when you talk about security it's not mean when any area or any city that Talib or Daesh was there, it's and secret. If they wasn't, it's secret, it's not mean. And secret, it's mean when you're feeling the people don't like your job. That's mean it's and secret. As I told you in the beginning, lots of fundamentalist people and religious extremism. This is the most, have most effect in kind of job like I do. The biggest challenge. The biggest challenge, yes. For example, when I came here a few months ago I starting make a new TV drama for Tullo TV. This is about a young generation and they try to bring change for people. They are active, they are modern, they are different. So when we start shooting, we give a house but after two, three days we understand here is your neighbor with a commander family there. So he don't like film, he don't like camera, so. But one day we have a very long scene with more than 100 men. And only me as a woman, I direct all of them and talk with the camera department, with the directors and running and so. And that day I remember my small monitor to watch the acting, it's got a problem. Then I running with the cameraman who keep the SDD camp. So this man, our neighbor was looking from the window and say for his bodyguard, who is this lead you to running between 100 men in the street? So it was, you know, when you don't feeling your insecurities, so it's a big challenge. But if you look in professionalism and my work, another challenge is besides the security, economy. Because sometimes I thinking of course our government always say welcome for all of us, for our work. But they are too busy for the security and political issues, not on culture. So no attention from culture ministry or other department for cinema or for culture. And so it's very difficult. We don't have, I remember for this, my last film, I letter to the president from 2009 until 2016, I follow with many film market. When my film selected in Poisson in Gothenburg, one of the best 20 film script in Asia. Then we talk, when we talk with the international producer and they announce we like this film and we're going to produce. And then when I go back in Afghanistan, they search about Afghanistan after one or two months. They say, Roya, we are sorry, we cannot produce film in Afghanistan because there is no security. Finally, in 2016, I speak with my sister and also with my husband because two of them work in my company and I say I must make my future films to tell for all this international producer. Of course, here is not enough security. Of course, here is many challenges, but here is still the life is going on. We have many stories to tell. So last year, I finished my film and I got many successful feedback, many international awards and I say and I announce my speech about the problems of producing film in Afghanistan in Lekarno when my film have the world premiere. So, when, if I... Where can we see your films? Are they on the internet? I'm sure some of our audience would like to see them. You know, because the film don't have distributed yet and we look for someone to distribute the film. So it's not an internet yet, but if any possibility to screen one evening or one night, you're welcome, it's with me, yeah. That's great, we'll hope we get that chance. Okay. June, what about some of the challenges and what do you see on the road ahead for these students who have been imprisoned for your work and what will success look like, say in five years? Challenges are the, you know, the decline of democracy and rule of law, the breakdown of the rule of law, democracy deal process in Thailand after the coup d'etat. Consumptional legal framework that have been imposed by the military government have negatively impacted on, in itself, violate fundamental rights. As I said, the rise to free expression or freedom of peaceful assembly have been respected. Also the risky and insecure environment that human rights defenders, human rights activists, lawyers like myself and my colleagues have to operate. I'm one of the cases that have faced what they call judicial harassment by the military governments, you know, for the role of defending some student activists. But there are many others that also faces this legal trouble as well. So what is our role, I've asked myself and my colleagues because we've been defending most of the opposition or undesired by the military governments. And of course you can guess, we never win the case because it's in their renew, it's in the military court. One thing that our clients, not just the student activists have told us is that they're really thankful to have us here with them. It's very basic that everyone needs to have a lawyer. They need to have someone that they can trust, they can confide with. And that although they know in their heart that we're not gonna win this fight until democracy returns, but we have to be there. Sometimes I feel like, oh, I feel so bad being a lawyer and knowing that we're not gonna win the case. But what can we do? We have to be there, we have to ensure. Minimum access to justice. So I would consider that is the essential reason of our existence, of our work and many other people who are fighting in Thailand. Over the course of these three years, finally we have some acquittals. We have some cases that might be considered successful because the court acquitted the activists and didn't jail them. But it came in very late time. The military government has promised many times to have the general election so that it's gonna be a first thing. To have the civilian administration to have the functioning mechanism of democracy come back. But they've been postponed many times. And this year we really hope that they will oblige to their promise to international community including to the US as well. So looking ahead, if even we have the election it doesn't guarantee that means functional democracy. We have a lot to work on from our country. But in the meanwhile I think it's very important that international friends, other countries also look upon Thailand, watch us tell them how they should do, how they should not go backward. And I think that's important why I'm here to get your support on that because anyway we have to fight from the within. Five years I hope that we will see some of you know the return of democracy. That is really a tall challenge it sounds like right now but your determination to keep as we say telling truth to power is really truly courageous given the circumstances and keeping the story alive for these young people. Maluma, so you're one of the few women in the parliament from a marginalized group. How have you done this? How have you find the courage every day to figure out how to navigate power and to do it in a gracious and powerful way? A very important question and difficult to answer but I will try it is true. I am from a large group. We are the largest population in Mauritania but it is the most marginalized group in society. We are five women from this group from different parties. I am the only one who can say from one of two women who are in opposition party in the same group the problems we face every day are problems that we must face. The first problem, there are two problems is that I must be there every day and in every committee and I must always talk and stand up to all of the ministers who are there to teach everybody and you must be there for all the try to adjust all the laws that are there because it has not been easy for me but I have put my whole effort to reach what I needed to reach to achieve everything I have achieved but I have achieved a little bit but in 2007 and 2013 there were many laws that were amended and that was due to the party that I was part of and the organization I was with that my husband runs, we gave amendments and they would write down the amendments and I would present them in parliament and you can say that I was able to add two or three points in each law so that those who did not those who did not deal with a case or that was against a slave I can take them to jail but we have many laws, we have laws and we have different work that's different and there's difference and then after that we must defend and we must work hard to implement the laws that were there that's why there's many laws that are not applied and even though they're there and that's why we must work very hard especially as women in that way we have instability in our laws because of the different coups that we have had and different revolutions we've had and that has made us work harder but we are serious about our work and my party in our organization and there are several officials that work with us we have brought in others who have worked with us and they have been leaders with us who have helped us defend our case and we all work, I cannot work in one on my own we each work on our own but we bring in towards the same cause and I'm able to say that we have reached at the stage to this day that I'm with you there was a minister that was with me last month and I talked to him last week and I have seen it today on Facebook because I talked to him about it because he met with somebody from my group because he wanted to deal with somebody who was from my people and so they put that man in jail he challenged the minister and then I talked to the minister and I told him I'm going to tell you the truth and you may put me in jail but you were not going to silence me and so now they have released the man that was put in jail for standing up to the president and therefore we have to talk we have to face the truth even if we both, we all end up in jail and even if I ended up in jail on my own that was something I said to the first minister and I said when the ministry talks about us it does not talk about this group does not talk about the economy it does not talk about our issues it's we are here and it does not take care of us our government does not take care of us as a marginalized group and their policies do not take care of us and that's why when I faced him and I told him about that sharply he and I started talking about the prisoners who are from my group of people who are with me and I also talked about the freedom of speech freedom of speech because we have a decline we have a decline in freedom of speech and press and interviews and now there's a tightening of freedom of speech because the military government does not like us talking and sharing and talking publicly and I told him that he cannot step back about freedom of speech because there are many prisoners who are political prisoners who are freedom of speech prisoners how can and I told him how can you talk about freedom of speech when you have so many when you have stepped out and not respected the rights of many people civil rights of many people and so now I face the minister and he talked to me and he said that you he responded to me that you talk to me and a very clear man and you represent your people and I would like to talk a little bit about the challenges that our people face and the women face women in Mauritania have a big problem because women cannot nominate themselves into any party they have to be in a party and when they are in a party there's a lot of competition with men and when then they compete against men and they compete in their tribal groups and that's why the women who are nominated are very very few and they have to be very strong in order to be nominated and that's why the women from my group are the smallest group of women who are nominated because when we talk about an equal society when we talk about women women who are nominated are from a higher group and from upper echelons of society that's why women are always in all groups are the lowest and also education in my group is difficult even though the government has opened schools based on our party requirements and asking us however slave children cannot go to school poor people cannot go to school but your father and mother are not able to buy for your food the clothing and school equipment to be able to school that's why they prefer that you go to work and be able to support yourself instead of going to school and using up their money that's why I asked from the Americans to help us build schools to these poor people and to pressure the government to send the poor students to schools so that they can be educated and reach higher education levels to stand up to those who still do not have democracy and opportunity we're going to open it up now to the audience for Q&A and what I'd like to do is take about three questions and then turn it back over to the panel so I have one here and if you would just show your hands so we have mic runners one, two, and a third question right here, all right, perfect we'll begin here if you wouldn't mind standing up introducing yourself and then asking your question Yes Zainab Aswaj from the American Islamic Congress thank you very much ladies for the wonderful information and the courage that you have to overcome all the obstacles that you have Ma'alouma, shukran jazeelan and I have a question for you my question, I'm going to say it's English so everyone can understand it it's hard to hear, could we increase the mic sound? No, okay and through the parliament that you are a member of right now would you, were you able to designate some laws to protect people from being under slavery and if so, what have you done and how successful is that effort? Thank you Right behind there, please Did you have a Dakel Amibiraouya Dakel, a country that has great filmography dramas and the television that also address social issues we have had a military coup and we still suffer the consequences many years later, I'm sorry to say and we also have had slavery in Brazil and we still have young women caught up in homes and are treated like slaves my question to you is what message do you have for young people in my country? And maybe I need to slow down but recently we had a young woman who rose up through the social economic ladder to become a congresswoman but she was recently shot I don't know if you heard like a week ago not very long, it was a dramatic event in Brazil and she represented women of color women low income and also LGBTQ community and she was just murdered in plain sight it was a very ugly thing and so how do we encourage young people to get involved in politics and in social movement when literally their lives are at risk? It's hard to motivate young people what hope and encouragement can you provide people in my country, thank you Thank you very much Another question back over to you so the first question Yes, to you and then to open it up about I think everybody can talk about young people Thank you Thank you for the two questions the first question is what are the laws that I was helped in obtaining that helped our people of course it was not very easy to first to get there of course in the opposition party and it was not very easy for us to operate but in 2006 there was an agreement between our party and also the president that was elected so I could be so that was one of the promises that he gave us and one of the laws that we agreed upon even before the election that he would have his support that was available to us so this was a condition so after that if you because in this law there was an amendment it says that if the slave would inform anyone that he is under slavery then he would be thrown in jail or prison right now the amendment actually says that any person whether he is or she is a slave or maybe a witness or maybe a neighbor would actually inform the government or the authorities about his slavery now in 2013 we had a conversation about the the head of the coup and so and we spoke about what we needed to amend even in that first version of the law so and we wanted to make this as a crime against humanity in our constitution or set of laws in Mauritania so our people also supported me, my people to get to that so right now it is in the constitution that it is a crime against humanity and slavery so this is another goal or another level we were able to attain as to the second question I would like to know how can in Brazil for instance or other countries how could they be motivated or motivate young people of course that is a long road but first of all you have to have security under the law in the country so the first thing is to have peaceful action and then to the people that are actually suffering under the slavery or these conditions and then organize them to get their message across to the government so these are the basic steps that you have to deal with I advise that would be the struggle would be the demands would be all under in peaceful demonstrations or expressions so that's how we can attain our rights at the end for adding the second question I'm going to go to June here in terms of what is it with young people and how to create some hope and a message given these very difficult circumstances in Brazil Thailand, Afghanistan I would answer from taking myself as a young person as well I think it's the action and encourage others to join the force as I said when we decided to set up our organization, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights it was a very immediate reaction to the problems even before the students or the young people came out on the street so I think it's important that one need to start something first secondly having working a lot with the young clients I've seen that they're very full of energy they want to experiment try something new every day until until they learn they realize perhaps they need to be more organized with their movements try to educate try to talk to the society more try to use very simple and normal language to not just highlighting the group of young people but also to convince all members of the public to join the force so we have I've seen the development of the youth and the young movement over the course after the cool data and even now trying to set up a very formal political party or institution in preparation, going toward the election if we have one but that means that they come across they see the importance that they're the one who's going to be living in the country while the old generals I don't know when they're going to go but they're not going to be living with us so I think it's that hope and the messages that they and us as a supporter of the force of this movement have to keep it going Joanne, would you like to talk about the how to address because I heard this morning that the country of Afghanistan over 50% of the population is under 18 I believe that was the quote given today so let's say answer this question in my language to give a better answer you know in for the young people and for the young people to fight it's very important I think we have a translator Do we have a translator for Dari? Yes Channel 5 Channel 5 I think it's in Channel 5 It's okay It's better that in my opinion 100 young people have grown at first it's very important instead of fighting and fighting for equal rights social justice human rights if there is a doubt in the young people without doubt it's very important I believe that young people need to be convinced that they should be and I think they should be I think in the most difficult situation in the most difficult situation there is no change there is no change and they should try to change to a young person to be more mature to be more energetic to change from every sound from everywhere and it's important how much people who fight are convinced and I'm sure it will affect us in the question that you have I really didn't know what you said in Afghanistan I personally didn't know how to speak English please if you could re-ask your question if you could please repeat your question or somebody could ask to address young people in this situation I give her answers your question about the 50% of young generation in Afghanistan I don't understand your question it's a very young country and so this is a very prevalent issue it's great I want to ask the audience is there another question right here two, okay great, right here in this row right here as well please introduce yourself my name is Jin and I'm the founder of Four Girls Global Leadership and it's a social change movement that's been going on for years and we did a survey, a global survey of whether it's empowerment for what we call the millennials and that's younger generation anywhere in the 20s and what we have found in this ties to the youth question is that actually this takes men and in fact the young generation and the millennials, the young men also wanted to be empowered so how do we have this conversation especially now which for me I see a global movement of me too and not just in the United States but everywhere from Iran to Brazil to Saudi Arabia is having a transformation of women's empowerment how do we engage young men in this conversation and not blame I've heard the patriarchy argument and I've heard and I just don't think it's a productive conversation when we're bashing another gender so how do we have a productive conversation engaging young men to be part of this solution as well Thanks so much, Jen Please, Stephanie Is this on? Yeah, Stephanie Foster smashed strategies formally of the State Department and I served in Embassy Cobble so I met you, Roya, when I was there many years ago so my question is actually a good segue from that how do we help tell your stories in a way that creates a better understanding of the nuanced picture in your countries because my experience from working at the State Department and working in this arena globally is that people have a very one dimensional view sometimes of the lives of women and men but primarily women in this conversation so how do we help people have a more nuanced view of the challenges you face and what's going on and sort of how to take those challenges and turn them into progress so it's not so unidimensional in terms of the way that people understand what's going on in a particular country Thank you both Great questions to end this event with and I'm going to ask our panelists to not only answer one or the other question but then to make your final remarks I'm going to close it this session. Would you like to begin Maluma would you like to begin in answering one of the questions Thank you very much for this question that has to do how can we get the young millenials to deal with women and give her the right to have equality before the law I say that in many of societies there are men who want to know young people who want to deal with women well then I think there is an important point in society in schools now in schools men and women are understanding each other especially in this in the social social media age where there is a way for them to communicate and where there is women are equal to men and as a result of this awareness also making women's issues aware also make men aware and able to help women in their right to reach equality and also women as young people they are able to prove that they are worthy of this so that men are willing to give them authority and give them participation in society thank you for the second question I'm sorry I don't remember the second question I don't think the second question that's question is for Ms. Roya it has to do with Kabul and how to understand women there but I can answer as a woman who is a woman who is part of this great courageous women group it's important also our story is not more important the stories of the women who are before us or who have stayed in their own countries they are all women who have fought hard for what they have but we were lucky to be invited I don't know why for any reason but I think I think it's only with luck that we were invited to come here because in my society and all the other women who are here they are all women who are important and capable women and we are Huna like Dr. Coons and many others who are here our stories are not different than the stories of women who are with us who are stayed in their countries whenever I study a woman I learn about another woman because we all share are there are values or efforts or stories so our stories are not unique or women's stories are not unique but in our lives and in our shared values June would you like to talk a little bit how we engage young men in a non-blame way and also make sure that we are arm in arm with the future in front very interesting to know the findings of the surveys actually it's a very difficult question to find answer but I think one thing is somehow the millennials or the younger generations the further they are born into this internet world or social media I think it's closer but they're losing connection with previous experience I don't know if it's like for me I think they're trying to involve them and give them the traces of the history passed on or some stories passed on connect to them more and more but it comes to the challenges of different types of communication languages that are not really matched immediately but I think that that occurred to me when I worked with people who were very young like below 20 and one or two or three times we don't understand each other we need to continue the dialogue talking and actually they like to see it by the action more than we tell them so they don't like to be preached so I think that would apply not just to young men but I think the new generations that will come will come and I think it's important to mention about stories and how we can help and I'm assuming she meant here in the states how we can tell your stories better and help people connect to these stories which we've heard today you're going to be on a journey so that more people understand the worlds you're coming from and the challenges you are addressing well for me I think if we take some moment to imagine ourselves to be in the shoes of the women who travel from other countries so empathy yes and actually personally I really don't like telling my story because I was not used to it because I used to advocate for others I used to advocate to other people cases and then when I become one of the stories it took me quite a while to take the courage to come out and say it because in the way I don't want really I don't feel that I'm a victim I feel that I'm a fighter so I think the story is that you know you tell how they face the challenges how courageous they are and I'm also telling myself as well now that trying to tell my story still quite awkward but the more the stories go out that's when we will break the silence of violence when the stories go out that is when we will break the silence of the violence well put you need to keep telling your story more June Roya we're going to close the afternoon with your comments okay but thank you I think that I want to shortly I want to say something about the patriarchal societies in countries such as Afghanistan Iran and Saudi Arabia I want to say that our countries that we're talking about the thousands years of history but this is the time that they need to talk about that has been old and has been there and we need to be talking about changing it now when we're talking about the laws in a country such as mine in Afghanistan it's a misogynist view this is even in our literature it's a misogynist way for example if you look at a woman in our literature you only see her as a mistress and that's what I think that when you're talking about the women rights in a country such as mine unless we actually we get rid of these from our literature from our laws from our courts if we don't take it fundamentally if we don't look into fundamental change I don't think we're going to reach our goals there are so many women and men in Afghanistan that they're really struggling deeply against these things and then how they should hear our stories now I think if there's no challenges and difficulties then there's no struggle and if struggle not at the end be successful then it means that there was no struggle to begin with I really believe on that that anything that we try any struggle will have there will be an achievement when I started when I was so young nobody was interested in my work but now I am at the level that there's some of the very biggest people in cinemas writing about the work I'm doing and people who are watching my movies everywhere in Afghanistan rural areas and villages and the world this shows the feedback this is the work that I've done like people like me who have worked on this I think people are starting to look at this patriarchal society or the people who have the views the patriarchal view there are some men in my country some of them there are people that they think that women should be participated in the society they think that it's the women's need that needs to be in the society but we need to change their view and say no it's the society that needs the women to be working there so this is this is a very serious struggle that needs to happen and when we're talking about the wrapping up that's something I want to say that always in Afghanistan especially in the last 15 years that it's very important that at this point from our international friends especially the United States I have to say I'm grateful because there has been changes in the women's life and the international community has been very effective in this area one of the things that I want to say is that our international friends are focused more on security in Afghanistan but but what actually get us to security and what will give people that hope to go for a better life I think people like those people that we talk about fundamentalist and those who are against modernism and against modernism but once they actually feel the meaning the real meaning of life and actually see the happiness in life and they actually and I think that they will change their mind I'm pretty sure about that like change in culture change in in economy and the status of people life I think they're looking at deeply into all of that this will change and I'm hoping that they will take this matter seriously this will change this afternoon I think real hope is based on real leadership and it makes real change and I'm confident that in each of your countries and with your leadership change is on its way I want to thank fabulous audience I want to acknowledge the other honorees and I hope you'll join me now in thanking these three honorees thank you