Sierra Leone Telegraph: 16 July 2019
Graduate Women International (GWI) is celebrating its centenary in Geneva, Switzerland, with a conference taking place on July 24-28, 2019, at the University of Geneva.
Over 400 women from across the globe will gather to hear speakers such as Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela, Human Rights Activist and granddaughter of Nelson Mandela talk on topics ranging from linkages between education and peace, education as a tool against misogyny, the “She Trades programme and building sustainable societies.
The British Federation of Women Graduates is making a major contribution. Its President – Sierra Leonean born retired High Court Judge, Madam Patrice Wellesley-Cole is an honorary chair.
Photo: Right – Patrice receiving the SALPACT African Excellence Award in March 2019, in Leeds, UK, from the wife of former Sierra Leone High Commissioner to the UK, Mrs Salma Lamina).
The Federation will be presenting the results of research into Women in Academic Life at a workshop; and three of the GWI’s major awards this year are being presented to women at English universities.
Graduate Women International (GWI) is a membership-based international NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland, with presence in over 60 countries. Founded in 1919, GWI is the leading girls’ and women’s global organisation advocating for women’s rights, equality and empowerment through access to quality education and training up to the highest levels. GWI is in special consultative status with ECOSOC since 1947 and is an NGO maintaining official relations with UNESCO and ILO.
Sierra Leone will be represented by the Sierra Leone Association of University Women’s (SLAUW) President – Linda Williams, who will also facilitate one of the workshops.
The British Federation of Women Graduates (BFWG) was a founding member of Graduate Women International (GWI). It funds annual academic prizes for women postgraduate students in the UK and, through its sister charity (Funds for Women Graduates (FfWG) gives hardship grants on similar criteria .
It also provides a strong network for women graduates of all ages in the UK through events and individual contact.
This year’s GWI celebration, will also mark the final event for outgoing President Geeta Desai.
It doesn’t surprise me to see Madam Patrice Wellesley Cole up there. Sierra Leone has always produced fine academics and has always exported upstanding people in whatever community they find themselves. We hope the present government will bring our universities back to high standards after years of neglect and mismanagement.