Speakers

Kiana and Ali Rahmani

Children of Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize 2023

Kiana and Ali Rahmani will represent their mother Narges Mohammadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her fight for women’s rights and human rights for all. Kiana and Ali received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of their mother who remains in Evin prison in Iran. Narges Mohammadi’s prison sentence continues to be unjustly extended, most recently being extended by an addition 15 months for “spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic regime”.

Shirin Ebadi

Nobel Peace Prize 2003

Shirin Ebadi was one of Iran’s first female judges but was dismissed from her post in 1979 after Khomeini’s revolution. She continued to fight for her fights as well as the rights of others, eventually serving as a defense council for dissidents, and was even arrested in 2000 for her criticism of the regime. In 2003, Dr. Ebadi was awarded the Nobel peace Prize for her campaign for fundamental human rights, in particular for women and children. She now lives in exile in the UK where she continues her human rights activism and has been a leading diaspora voice in support of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.

Maria Ressa

Nobel Peace Prize 2021

Maria Ressa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”. Maria Ressa was born in Manila, the Philippines, and grew up in the United States. After studying at Princeton University, she returned to her native country and started working as a local correspondent for CNN. In 2012, she co-founded the Rappler online news site. As an investigative journalist, she has distinguished herself as a fearless defender of freedom of expression and has exposed the abuse of power, use of violence and increasing authoritarianism of the regime of President Rodrigo Duterte. She and Rappler have also documented how social media are being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.

Maria Ressa will deliver an online greeting

Denis Mukwege

Nobel Peace Prize 2018

Denis Mukwege is a renowned gynecologist and human rights activist from east Congo. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 with Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”. In 2008 Dr. Mukwege established Panzi Hospital in Bukavu where he and his staff treat victims of sexual violence. They have treated thousands of women and continue to do so.He continues to criticize the DRC’s government and international community for the lack of prosecution against the perpetrators of these war crimes.

Denis Mukwege will deliver his speech through video.

Fawzia Koofi

First woman deputy speaker of parliament in Afghanistan, and former member of peace negotiations with the Taliban

Fawzia Koofi is an activist and politician. She became the first female Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Afghanistan’s history in 2010. She was a member of peace negotiation team representing Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in negotiating with the Taliban in Doha Qatar before having to flee Afghanistan. Since her flee from Kabul, she has been travelling across the world to meet world leaders, Human rights Organizations and Civil Society activists to keep the focus on Afghanistan in terms of Humanitarian and Political crises, especially the repression of women and girls ban from education.

Fatou Bensouda

Gambian High Commissioner to the UK and former prosecutor of ICC

Dr. Fatou Bensouda is a Gambian lawyer and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who has also served as Attorney General and minister of Justice in Gambia. She is now serving as the Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Through her work, she has strived to advance accountability for underreported crimes such as sexual and gender-based violence, and in 2002-2004, she worked as a Legal Advisor and Trial Attorney for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She is the recipient of numerous awards and has been listed twice as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Cristina Ljungberg

Co-Founder, The Case for Her

Cristina Ljungberg is a Co-founder of The Case for Her, a blended-finance investment portfolio addressing the key women's health issues of menstruation, women's sexual health and pleasure including abortion access. She is also an active board member for the global non-profit Acumen, focused on poverty alleviation through impact investing and leadership development and serves as the co-chair of Maverick Collective by Population Services International. Cristina is the co-founder of the Nordic Philanthropy Summit, a convening that accelerates strategic approaches to philanthropy in the nordics.

Karin Watson Ferrer

Gender and climate activist, Chile

Karin Watson Ferrer is a designer and activist from Santiago de Chile. She is dedicated to promoting human rights, climate justice, and gender equality. Karin approaches activism through the lens of intersectionality, emphasizing the interconnectedness of these issues. Through her work, she highlights the critical impact of the climate crisis on human rights, especially for vulnerable women and girls, and advocates for feminist systemic solutions. Karin is a member of several collectives,, and is co-founder of Latinas for Climate, an international network of female non-conforming youth leasers advocating for climate justice and human rights from an intersectional feminist perspective.

Henrik Urdal

Director, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

Henrik Urdal (PhD, Political Science) is Director and Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). He is past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Peace Research, and a former Research Fellow with the International Security Program at Harvard Kennedy School (2011-2012). Urdal’s work on political demography has been published in leading international academic journals. He has been a consultant for international organizations like the World Bank, the United Nations, and USAID. His research focuses on the impact of population and environmental change on armed conflict, including security implications of urbanization, ‘youth bulges’, and climate change. Another major research effort concerns the human consequences of war, including adverse consequences of armed conflict on maternal and child health. He has worked extensively on global trends in armed conflict as past Director for PRIOs Conflict Trends project.

Akila Radhakrishnan

Strategic Legal Advisor, Atlantic Council

Akila Radhakrishnan is an international human rights lawyer and a globally recognized expert in justice and accountability, sexual and gender-based violence, gender equality, and reproductive rights. Akila is currently the Strategic Legal Advisor for Gender Justice for the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project. She previously served as the President and Legal Director of the Global Justice Center. Akila has led ground-breaking legal work on gender and international law, including abortion access in conflict situations, the role that gender plays in genocide and crimes against humanity, ensuring accountability for reproductive violence, and the codification of gender apartheid.

Jørgen Watne Frydnes

Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee

Jørgen Watne Frydnes (39) is the youngest committee chair in history.

Mr. Frydnes currently serves as the Secretary-General of Norwegian PEN. He holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Oslo and a master's degree in International Politics from the University of York, England.

Following the terror attack on Utøya on July 22, 2011, he became the managing director of Utøya AS and was responsible for the reconstruction efforts of Utøya. His task was to transform a site of terror and mass murder into a center for democracy, a platform for knowledge, discussion and dialogue.

Mr. Frydnes has been a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2021, appointed by the Norwegian Labour Party.

Isabelle Lonvis-Rome

French Ambassador for Human Rights and former Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities.

Former Deputy Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity, and Equal Opportunities from May 2022 to July 2023, Isabelle Lonvis-Rome is currently France's Ambassador at-scale for Human Rights and International Holocaust Remembrance. Trained as a magistrate, she served as the senior official in charge of gender equality at the Ministry of Justice. She has held various positions as a criminal judge and presided over criminal courts.

Isabelle Rome has been actively involved in NGOs, providing support to drug addicts, political refugees, and cultural associations in prisons. In 2003, she founded Femmes de Libertés, an association for women, which she chaired for 12 years.

She has authored several books and published La fin de l’impunité ("The End of Impunity") with Editions Stock in early 2024, offering new avenues for reforms to better combat violence against women.