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Keynote Speakers

Senator Mobina Jaffer

The Honourable Senator Mobina Jaffer became the first East Indian woman lawyer in British Columbia and in 2001 she was appointed to the Canadian Senate as the first East Indian, first Muslim woman, and the first African. A year later, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed her Chair of the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security, where she pursued her conviction that the key to peace is the inclusion of women in peace processes worldwide as outlined in the United Nations 1325 (2000) Resolution. She also became Special Envoy to the Peace Process in Sudan.
Senator Jaffer is truly an agent of change and a leader in civil society—she travels the world advocating for the needs of the most vulnerable women and girls, using her position of power and influence to affect change.

To her, all of the issues on which Soroptimists work, maternal mortality, domestic violence, FGM,’ honour’ killings, financial abuse, forced marriage, pay equity—it’s all violence against women, plain and simple.

 

Naomi Long, MP

Born in 1971, Naomi Long grew up in the heart of her constituency, attending Mersey Primary School and Bloomfield Collegiate School. She then earned a distinction in a Masters in Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast. She first took political office in 2001 when she was elected to Belfast City Council for the Victoria ward. Her rise was relatively meteoric – she became an Assembly member for East Belfast in the 2003 election and within three years became deputy leader of the party.

Despite her higher profile, she maintained her interest in local government and became only the second female Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2009. Her husband Michael is also a politician, serving on Castlereagh Borough Council. Despite her busy political career, Ms Long also finds time for other activities. She serves on the committee of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church and is a senior guider with the Girl Guides.

 

Teresa Doherty 

A member of SI Bangor and District, Teresa Doherty, has carved out a successful career as an international human rights lawyer. Justice Doherty’s legal career at home and abroad has spanned over thirty years. She is currently the Presiding Judge in Trial Chamber11 of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and is regarded as a leading figure in international human rights law. She began practicing law in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s before pursuing her career in Papua New Guinea. In 1987 she was appointed as a Principal Magistrate there and the following year, as a judge in the Supreme and National Courts – the first woman to hold high judicial office in the South Pacific.

Between 1998 and 2003, Justice Doherty worked in private law practice in Northern Ireland and she has served as a Life Sentence Review and Parole Commissioner here since 2002. From 2003 to 2005, Justice Doherty served as a Judge of the High Court and the Court of Appeal of Sierra Leone at the request of the Commonwealth following the civil war there. In 2005, she was appointed by the UN Secretary General to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the tribunal dealing with crimes against humanity and war crimes. She has worked and lectured on legal issues in many countries in Asia, Africa, N. and S. America, Australasia and Europe. Justice Doherty has received several awards for her work including a CBE in 1997.
Grainne Teggert

Grainne will present on Amnesty International’s Human Trafficking work in Northern Ireland and as part of UK Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group, the Northern Ireland Political Response and where we go to next, both politically and as activists, to combat the modern day slave trade.

Grainne Teggart is the Northern Ireland Campaigner for Amnesty International where she is responsible for developing and managing AIUKs campaign activity, including Public Affairs, Public Relations and Media in Northern Ireland.  Grainne leads Amnesty’s Human Trafficking work in Northern Ireland, and has advised and worked with NI Assembly All Party Group on Human Trafficking and NI Department of Justice.  Grainne also represents Amnesty International on UK Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group.

Grainne is a lobbyist with local, national and international experience.  Internationally this includes the United Nations in Geneva and European Parliament in Brussels.

Outside of Amnesty, Grainne is a former Vice Chair of Northern Ireland Government Affairs Group and is currently a member of Management Board of Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies where she advises on its political advocacy work.