The University of Aberdeen will once again host an impressive line-up of speakers at its annual International Women's Day conference.
The event, which will take place on Wednesday, March 8 at King’s College Conference Centre, will this year ask attendees to imagine a gender equal world with its theme #EmbraceEquity. The conference will also be online for those who can’t make it in person.
Celebrated across the world since the early 1900s, International Women's Day originally began to provide a forum for women to campaign for equality and women’s rights. Over time, it has evolved and now in March each year, events are held across the world to recognise the progress that has been made, and to inspire everyone to celebrate their achievements.
Speakers at next month’s conference will be Rosalind Main, Professor Devi Sridhar and Ceewhy Ochoga.
Ceewhy Ochoga is founder and CEO of Black Impact, a national African and Caribbean student network that seeks to support the leadership development and career aspirations of Black students in the UK. Its key objectives are the desire to challenge structural racism, social and economic injustice and discrimination within higher education and wider society in general. Ceewhy’s talk at the conference is entitled ‘What’s your flavour? Being a woman of influence’.
Artist, Body Image Campaigner and Model, Rosalind will discuss 'Social Media and Body Image: Celebrating beauty from beyond our screens'. Rosalind has been a fashion model for over a decade and in 2017 co-founded the I Am More Than Project (instagram: @iam_more_than) with friend and fellow model Morgan McTiernan as they both share the same vision to work towards more inclusivity and representation in the fashion industries and beyond through amplifying voices and collaborating.
Devi Sridhar is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and holds a Personal Chair in Global Public Health. She is the founding Director of the Global Health Governance Programme and holds a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award. Professor Sridhar will deliver her talk entitled ‘Working as a scientist during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Attendees will also be able to enjoy last year’s TEDx Aberdeen Talk by Lyly Fong which will be streamed to the audience and online.
Following the conference, there will be an opportunity for networking and to enjoy the talents of the University's student A Capella Society, Killer Quines, who will be performing. There will also be a stalls to browse from various University teams including the Parent and Carers Group, the Public Engagement with Research Unit (PERU), the University’s Athena Swan team and the Women’s Development Network.
University of Aberdeen Vice-Principal for Education, Ruth Taylor, who is hosting the conference, said: “Once again, we are looking forward to welcoming a fantastic line-up of inspirational people to our campus to help us celebrate International Women’s Day.
“It is an honour to host what is sure to be a fantastic event, with a wide variety of topics set to be covered in this year’s programme. Our speakers are leaders in their chosen fields, and I am sure that the knowledge and experience they share with us will be inspiring, informative and entertaining. We are all extremely grateful that they are taking the time to share their insights with us this International Women’s Day.”
The conference is open to all and is free to attend, however booking is essential. Further information about the Conference, including the full programme, speaker biographies, and how to book is available from www.abdn.ac.uk/iwd