International Women's Day

Women are on the frontline of the pandemic in several ways. Women politicians are praised for their collective leadership and management of the crisis. Community organisers like Stacey Abrams stand out for their ability to mobilise citizens despite pandemic constraints. The Black Lives Matter movement saw tenacious women leading the global fight for social justice.

To celebrate these achievements and inspire policymakers and activists alike, the members of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) welcome you to this event that showcases success stories of women in the public arena, from political parties to grassroots organisers.

We want to mark International Women’s Day by shining the spotlight on inspiring women whose leadership and political vocation make a daily difference. We will hear about their experience of overcoming barriers in all parts of politics and society, and how their journey enables the next generation of women to follow in their steps.

The organisers of this event are EPD, ALDA - European Association for Local Democracy, Demo Finland, DIPD - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy, Elbarlament, Netherlands Helsinki Committee, Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, People in Need and Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

The event is moderated by award-winning journalist Nabila Ramdani.

The speakers

• Imarn Ayton - Actress, activist and leading voice in the #BlackLivesMatter UK protests and founder of the Black Reformist Movement
• Tamara Adrián - Venezuelan lawyer and academic, and the first trans woman to win a seat as a member of the country’s Congress
• Sidita Zaja - Executive Director of the NGO ProLGBT, fighting for the rights of the LGBTI community in Albania
• Sophie Heesen - Politician and Councillor for the Dutch Labour party (PvdA) in Gouda, campaigning for LGBTI rights, anti-discrimination policies and gender equality
• Krishala Tamang - One of the youngest elected Vice-Chairpeople of Doramba Rural Municipality in Nepal’s Ramechhap district, and national-level martial arts player

Krishala Tamang 

Krishala Tamang, who is still in her 20s, is one of the youngest elected Vice-Chairperson of Doramba Rural Municipality of Ramechhap district of Nepal. In Nepal, politicians are still considered "youth politicians" until they are 50 years old. So for a woman so young, and also from a marginalized community, to be elected is a huge achievement in the context of Nepal.

Ms. Tamang holds  a master’s degree in sociology and has six years of political experience,. She is also a national level martial arts player who has represented Nepal in many national and international platforms and has made the country proud. Krishala is a strong believer in positive thinking; that things will be positive if you think positive and do positive. She says that unconditional support from her family and her background in demanding sports formed the foundation for her to join politics.

As a young female politician, she hopes that women's issues and agendas should be prioritized and incorporated in the mainstream development of the country.

She has been involved in various awareness and skill development programmes on local levels and has been prioritizing and working on issues related to youths and women so that no youth in Nepal has to leave their country and family for foreign employment.

Krishala Tamang is part of DIPD's Strengthening Multiparty Democracy partnership in Nepal.