"(In)visible Women Role Models / Today’s Voice tomorrow's Leaders"
On 26 March, New Women Connectors, a movement for inclusion, gender equality and social justice initiated by refugee and migrant women, organized a very special online event, called hackathon: “(In)visible Women Role Models / Today’s Voice tomorrow's Leaders”. This event showcased inspiring refugee women and their stories. The hackathon brought a variety of people together to discuss, listen to one another and design creative solutions to the specific problems faced by migrant and refugee women.
Women’s stories tell a lot about the life of refugees and migrants, they also remind us of the incredible resilience and power these women are bringing with them. Sara Kobli is an Ivorian refugee in Denmark. Besides being a successful entrepreneur in the food and beverage industry, she also is a cultural ambassador and a social impact leader, very active in promoting the integration of refugees and migrants in Denmark. After arriving in Denmark, she noticed that a lot of people were seeking asylum because of a lack of opportunities in their home country and in search of a better future. She created an NGO Sunshine Denmark to empower young people back home for entrepreneurship. The aim is to make Africa a place for opportunities where younger generations could fulfil their potential. Today, her project plan is fully developed, but she lacks the adequate funding to be able to carry it out.
Another role model presented was Reem Mahmood, a Syrian feminist activist and writer. Reem is the founder of the leading feminist platform in Syria, and published her first book “Very womanly stories” in 2018. She enrolled in a Gender and Women’s Studies course at York University, in Canada, and has been studying online since the university reopening. However, she struggles to find a visa in a safe country where she can share her thoughts and experience in a free way.
The different inspiring stories were followed by a brainstorming session on finding adequate solutions to the problems faced by migrant and refugee women in finding their place, their voice and supportive networks to be able to act as leaders in their host countries. The participants came up with what could be one of many solutions, to tackle the issue through a new feminist approach to community building.
Follow their YouTube channel for more inspiring stories.