 It's a great honor and privilege to meet so many phenomenal women that I'm really looking forward to hearing from in these 16 days of activism. Often, as human rights defenders, it can be very isolating and it can feel like you're alone. But there are human rights defenders, women, strong women around the world, and being able to share our stories, share strategies allows us to be able to realize that we're not alone, but also allows us to build on one another's knowledge, one another's experience. We feel the pains of the women in the countries where we come from, but we also like celebrate the joys and the hopes of these women who are rising as victims of human rights, but becoming survivors and developing as women human rights defenders and are able to participate in peace building and development processes in their own communities or in their own countries.