FP Virtual Dialogue: Fighting a Shadow Pandemic

Anne Githuku-Shongwe is the Representative for UN Women's South Africa Multi-Country Office which is responsible for women's empowerment and gender equality in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia as well as South Africa, where the office is based. Anne brings to her role 20 years of experience as a senior international development professional having worked with the United Nations Development Programme across Africa and managing US Scholarships for African Graduate Scholars. Anne has been an award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of Afroes, a Digital & Gamification Learning enterprise and a thought leader on the Future of Learning. Anne and Afroes received multiple awards including the prestigious Schwab Foundation/World Economic Forum Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award and a National Award – the Order of the Grand Warrior from the President of Kenya. Other awards include the PeaceAPP award of the UN, MEFFYs Award, London UK and Netexplo Award, Paris to name a few. Anne is a Board Member and Grand Juror of the World Summit Awards for the UN Information Society and a Global Ambassador of the Vital Voices Leadership Program. She has a Masters’ degree in International Development from The American University; a certificate in Social Innovation from the University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business, a certificate in The Art of Large Scale Systems Change for Social Entrepreneurship from Harvard University and a Management Certificate from Jones International University.  

Keitumetse is a feminist organizer pursuing an honor’s degree in Social Work, at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is the founder and chairperson of Black Womxn Caucus, a social movement that uses feminist popular culture and education to advocate against Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) and its manifestations on a micro, meso and macro level. She uses perspectives rooted in equity to develop a holistic understanding of the political, social, economic, geographical, physical and psychological implications of GBVF in South Africa. Under her leadership, Black Womxn Caucus was instrumental in ensuring the first National Summit Against Gender Based Violence in November 2018 through the office of the Presidency. In addition, Black Womxn Caucus remains active in several other governmental consultative processes. She is part of the subcommittee for the Prevention Thematic Portfolio under the National Strategic Plan against GBVF. Keitumetse currently co-chairs the civil society delegation to find ways in which the private sector can be actively involved in ending GBVF. Prior she has worked in several health related facilities including Headway: The Brain Injury Association, Avalon: Home for People Living with Disabilities and Helen Joseph Hospital. She has been appointed as a board member for the Centre of Family Health Initiative operating from Nigeria which has been granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Formerly, the national campaign coordinator for promoting feminist governance practices during the 2019 National General Elections in South Africa, she mobilized and organized womxn in five of the nine provinces.

Dr. Scharff is the CEO and Cofounder of The Fuller Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to groundbreaking reporting on women worldwide that raises awareness, exposes injustice and spurs accountability. Under her leadership, The Fuller Project has evolved from a grassroots start-up to the global newsroom dedicated to reporting on women and publishing with leading outlets. Since its cofounding in 2015 from Turkey, The Fuller Project newsroom has won various accolades including the Military Reporters & Editors Award, the One World Media Award, the Amnesty International Media Award, the Milwaukee Press Club Silver Award; reporting has also been shortlisted for the Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism, One World Media Award, South Asia Journalism Association Daniel Pearl Award, and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Award. In 2019, Xanthe was named among the top 40 under 40 by the Leadership Center for Excellence for outstanding public service. Xanthe is the Founder and Board Chair Emeritus of Advancing Girls’ Education in Africa, a thriving nonprofit in East Africa which has served 3,000 girls with secondary school opportunities. The UN gave AGE Africa a good practice award, and Michelle Obama endorsed the organization’s work. Formerly, Xanthe was the Associate Director at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings where she led research and programming on girls’ education.  Xanthe serves on the Board of Advisors of The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom that supports military spouses and educates the public on military service, having herself been a military spouse during numerous 9/11 deployments. Having lived in Argentina and Peru, Xanthe speaks Spanish. She has also lived and worked in Turkey, Uganda, Sudan, and Malawi and now leads The Fuller Project’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she lives with her two children. If not working, you can find her running, reading, or heading to the woods.

Ms Tobias matriculated at Phiritona Secondary school and obtained an advanced diploma in Economic Policy from the University of the Western Cape. She also attained a Certificate in Economics and Public Finance from UNISA as well as a certificate in Leadership Communication from Rhodes University. Ms Tobias has previously served as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry,  Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Defense, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works, Whip of Standing Committee on Finance, member of Standing Committee on Public Accounts, member of Adhoc Committee on Auditor-General, Member of Parliament, and Deputy Director Youth Development DTEEA.

Zozibini Tunzi is a South African model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2019. Tunzi had previously been crowned Miss South Africa 2019. She is the third woman from South Africa to win the title, and the first black woman since Angolan Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011.

Mudunwazi Baloyi is the Country Head: USA for Brand South Africa based in New York. Before this position he held several senior positions in the South African government including being Chief Director for Global Bilateral Economic Relations at the dti, as well as roles ranging from trade, industry, investment and economic development to logistics especially cross border movement of people and goods and services. He also served as Minister Economic heading the trade and industry / investment division at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to beginning of 2008 where he was responsible for negotiations, market access issues, WTO, trade and investment promotion, etc. Prior to this he worked for the South African Government, Department of Trade and Industry as Director for Africa and the Middle East, responsible for economic development and negotiations by encouraging outward investment from South Africa into Africa and the Middle East regions.  This also involved packaging of investment opportunities for promotion to relevant sponsors in South Africa and elsewhere globally within the framework of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Initiative. He has also previously worked as Chief Economist at the National Treasury responsible for policy development on South Africa’s engagement with the multilateral development finance institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, African Development Bank, etc. Mr. Baloyi holds an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Western Cape and a Masters Degree in Development Economics from Williams College, Center forDevelopment Economics, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. Mr Baloyi also holds several post graduate diplomas in management and leadership from Harvard Business School, Gordon Institute of Business Sciences, and others.