Feminism in India (FII), in collaboration with the Swedish Institute, is excited to present ‘Advocacy, Passion & Beyond: Voices from the SI Leader Lab’, a new mini-podcast show. In this show, your host Japleen Pasricha, founder-CEO of Feminism in India, talks about the various ways in which activists across the world have taken on the challenge and have used digital tools to continue doing the work they do. Listen to the podcast trailer here.
The podcast show has been produced under the SI Leader Lab programme of the Swedish Institute. SI Leader Lab is a leadership programme arranged by the Swedish Institute for civil society leaders working for Sustainable Development Goal 16 (peaceful and inclusive societies) in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. It’s designed to give participants an opportunity to explore their leadership skills and learn effective advocacy methods. The next call for applications will open in mid-October 2022, more information here.
For the third episode, we have Nesmah Mansoor from Yemen and Sonal Dhanani from Pakistan.
Nesmah Mansoor is a Youth Human Rights Defender and Peace Activist. She has more than 8 years of experience in human rights, including women and youth rights. Nesmah is the founding member of the Peace Track Initiative and is currently the Media and Advocacy Officer. She is a trained negotiator by Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands, she is also a Swedish Institute Leader’s Lab 2021 alumina, and a fellow at Girls Globe.
Sonal Dhanani is an award-winning women peace builder, mental health advocate, creative professional, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner and trauma-informed facilitator keen on promoting education, mental health initiatives and social action in Pakistan. Sonal was a member of Pakistan’s first National Youth Council by Prime Minister Imran Khan. In 2015, after losing a loved one in a terrorist attack, Sonal realised the need for mental health and recreational well-being in Pakistan and started an initiative called Parindey which focuses on countering and preventing violent extremism in Pakistan through the soft approach of introducing mental health and peacebuilding programs. Through this organisation, Sonal is participating in the mainstream process of peace at the people-to-people level.
Sonal’s purpose of work and aim for a peaceful Pakistan is to break down the stigma that surrounds speaking out about mental health issues and her work aims to make a significant difference in the world, changing perceptions about mental wellbeing. Sonal was the first one to introduce and take art and music therapy to vulnerable communities with a focus on providing a platform for youth to channelise their emotions in a positive way and counter-violence in society.
Tune in as Japleen talks to Nesmah and Sonal about creating resilience and healthy sustainability.
The ‘Advocacy, Passion & Beyond: Voices from the SI Leader Lab’ podcast is available on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and many other streaming platforms via Anchor!
