Intergenerational Feminist Reflections with Graça Machel and Devaki Jain
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Intergenerational Feminist Reflections with Graça Machel and Devaki Jain
The two feminist stalwarts reflect on a transforming South Africa and the many contributions of the women’s movements from the Global South to this process. The speakers converse with Dr Shannon Philip and Dr Sinethemba Sidloyi, two younger feminists, to think about the intergenerational gains South Africa and the Global South have made around gender justice and the many challenges that remain.
 | Devaki Jain is an economist who graduated from St. Anne’s College, Oxford and was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the College in 2016. She was a lecturer in Economics in Delhi University from 1963-69. She has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University, Boston University, University of Sussex, SIAS and Oxford University. She has an honorary doctorate from the University of Westville, Durban, South Africa. She was a member of the erstwhile South Commission chaired by Dr. Julius Nyerere. She is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, an honour title by the government of India, in 2006. Over the course of her career she founded a wide range of institutions. She was the founder-director of the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), founding member of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS) as well as Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) – a third world network of women social scientists. She has been the author of many books and essays related to women with special reference to their economic growth. Her memoirs ‘The Brass Notebook’ was published by Speaking Tiger publishers in September 2020. Some of her other books include Tyranny of the Household: Investigative Essays on Women’s Work; Women’s Quest for Power: Five Indian Case Studies; Women, Development and the UN: A Sixty-Year Quest for Equality and Justice; Journey of a Southern Feminist and Close Encounters of Another Kind. |
 | Graça Machel is an African stateswoman whose decades long professional and public life is rooted in Mozambique’s struggle for self-rule and international advocacy for women and children’s rights. She is a former freedom fighter in Mozambique’s FRELIMO movement and that country’s first Minister of Education. In the years following her tenure in government, Machel produced a ground-breaking UNICEF report “The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children” that changed the way the United Nations and member states respond in conflict zones. Since then, she has worked tirelessly in support of global health, child welfare, and women’s rights and empowerment. Machel works through several regional and international development bodies to accelerate social transformation. Machel is a founding member and Deputy Chair of The Elders, and played a key role in establishing Girls Not Brides. She is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group. Machel lends her expertise to a number of organizations in a governance role. She serves as Board Chair of the Africa Child Policy Forum, Board Chair of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, Board Chair of United People Global as well as Executive Chair of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies. Machel is a Board Member of the South African Future Trust (SAFT), Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the Kofi Annan Foundation, and Education Above All. She is Board Chair Emeritus for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) and is a UNICEF Young People's Agenda Global Advisory Board Member. She is Chairperson of Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust and a Trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. She also sits on the Jack Ma Netpreneur Advisory Board. Additionally, she is the Chancellor of the African Leadership University. Machel has created three non-governmental organizations in her own right. She founded and serves as President of the Foundation for Community Development and the Zizile Institute for Child Development. She founded the Graça Machel Trust in 2010 where she focuses on advocating for women’s economic and social empowerment, food security and nutrition, education for all, as well as good governance. Among numerous awards, Machel has received the United Nations’ Nansen Refugee Award in recognition of her long-standing humanitarian work. In 1997, she was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She is a member of the Ambassador David M. Walters International Paediatric Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was awarded the World Health Organization’s highest honour, the WHO Gold Medal, for her enormous contributions to the health and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents. She was also acknowledged by Women Deliver with their 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award and she was named one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Forbes in 2020. Leiden University bestowed upon her an Honorary Doctoral Degree for her extensive work to advance children’s rights in 2021. Graça Machel has dedicated her life to improving the fate of women and children, inspiring hope, and building a more just and equitable world for us all. Bio: Graça Machel Trust Image: FORBES AFRICA - Motlabana Monnakgotla |