Shami Chakrabarti to speak at the Pierhead as part of Women in Public Life promise
The National Assembly for Wales’s Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, will welcome civil liberties and human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti to the Pierhead on 2 July.
Ms Chakrabarti will deliver a keynote address entitled “Women, Power and Change” before she takes part in a Q&A session with an audience of women from Wales.
The session has been organised as part of the Presiding Officer’s Women in Public Life (#POWiPL) campaign, aimed at encouraging more women in Wales to get involved in public life by becoming magistrates, councillors, lawyers, school governors or seeking other public roles.
Central to that campaign is providing strong role models through a series of keynote lectures at the Pierhead.
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: “It’s a great privilege to be addressing the National Assembly for Wales's debate on Women, Power and Change.
“Gender injustice has to be one of the greatest human rights violations both at a global level and closer to home.
“Addressing it may also be key to the peace, prosperity, health and happiness of all people for generations to come.”
This event is one of a series of sessions organised with women who are role models in their field, following a mandate given to the Presiding Officer at the Women in Public Life Welsh conference in November last year.
The Presiding Officer identified a number of fields such as science and engineering, sport, and civil liberties and law, where women are particularly under-represented.
Previous speakers have included leading scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield and the Chair of Sports Wales, Professor Laura McAllister.
On 2 July we have Shami Chakrabarti and future speakers will include broadcaster and journalist Janet Street Porter on 10 October
“It is fantastic to have a role model like Shami Chakrabarti to come and speak to an audience in Wales,” said the Presiding Officer.
“She is an inspiration to us all and demonstrates that women can become leaders in fields that have traditionally been dominated by men.
“That’s why the National Assembly is organising this series of events where leading female figures share the wisdom of their experience, and tell us how they think we can remove barriers to women getting involved in public life.
“But our commitment doesn’t end with these sessions. The Assembly will soon launch a new web portal.
“It will act as a one-stop shop for women who want to find out more about the opportunities open to them in public life, how to apply, and benefit from the shared experiences of other women.”
If you have been unable to get a place at the event you can follow it at #POWiPL.