The Women’s and Gender Studies Program will host their third International Women’s Issues Conference on Friday, February 16 and Saturday, February 17. The 2018 event aims to open dialogues concerning the accomplishments, struggles, and goals of women around the world. This year, the conference’s theme is Women in TECH: The Next Generation of Activists. The events offered include discussions, panels and research presentations by international, national and local scholars on a variety of themes dealing with women’s issues.
Topics that will be discussed include reproductive rights, inclusive education, women in the workplace, and transnational women’s issues. The conference, held in the UCF Student Union, is accessible to individuals of all disciplines and all levels of professional and academic backgrounds, free of charge. (View the full 2018 IWIC Program Booklet here.)
Dr. Josephine Kulea from the Samburu Girls Foundation will give the keynote address on Friday, February 16 at 1:15 in the Key West Ballroom (218AB) in the UCF Student Union. All presentations at the IWIC conference are free and open to the public.
Dr. Kulea, HSC is the Founder and Executive Director of Samburu Girls Foundation (SGF). She is a courageous youth activist, and her organization addresses harmful cultural practices facing children in the pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya. The foundation works to end child marriage, female genital mutilation, and beading.
Dr. Kulea has been able to rescue over 1,000 girls through her organization and support 315 girls to get an education from primary level up to university level. She has great passion for what she does and ventures into a field where not many are bold enough to go.
Dr. Kulea’s tremendous work has been recognized widely, and she has been awarded numerous awards: Unsung Hero 2011, Head of State Commendation 2012, COVAW champion 2013, Acumen East Africa Fellow 2013, UN Person of the Year 2013, Inspiring Woman by Gender commission Kenya 2014, YALI Washington Fellow 2014, Spark Change maker 2015, Vital Voices Lead Program 2015, African Union Youth Hero 2015, Egerton university gender award 2015, Gender Equality City University of New York award 2016, Top 40 under 40 women award 2016, Humanitarian Award 2017 by Kenya Women, and Children Wellness Center, among others.
She was recognized by President Obama for her work on his visit to Kenya. Dr. Josephine Kulea serves on an international board named VOICE based in Netherlands as an advisory member.
Her dream is to see children enjoying their full rights, and the eradication of harmful cultural practices for a prosperous Kenya and Africa as a whole.
All events in this conference are free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://wgst.cah.ucf.edu/conferences/womens-issues-conference/.