Open to everyone | Booking required | Bar open This session will be a conversation with very special guests who will have flown in from the Sahel, a region which faces an increasingly complex and difficult situation, riddled with recurring conflict and political instability, compounded by the effects of climate change, poverty and gender inequality. The effects of these are severely felt by the entire population, and it is women and girls who bear the heaviest burden, but their voices are not being heard. We will meet with absolutely inspiring activist women from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, who are part of a network of women called the Elles du Sahel, who despite all odds, fight for the rights of Women and Girls – and make progress happen in the Sahel. __________________________________________________________ ABOUT THE HOST Our host is Sandra Djuvara Melone, CEO of Zancora Consulting, which she founded in 2021, with a strong expertise in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, crisis management, human rights and, not last, gender. With a vast experience on the ground, she has worked across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. She knows first hand what living through civil war is like. Sandra is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Search for Common Ground, Europe, one of the world’s leading international non-governmental organisations working in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, where she's been involved in various roles since 1995. Sandra is a founding member of the European Platform for Conflict Prevention and Transformation (EPCPT), of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI) and Elles du Sahel. Before dedicating her career to conflict transformation, Sandra worked in human rights advocacy with Amnesty International, and in international education.