Please join us for this special CSW68 Parallel Event in Honor of International Women’s Day 2024
sponsored by the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, the United Nations Association of New York and the Medical Women’s International Association
Maya Dougoud
Associate Professor
Fribourg School of Management, Switzerland
Founder & Co–President, Strukturelle
Zita Küng
President, FRI
(Schweizerisches Institut für Feministische Rechtswissenschaft und Gender Law /
Swiss Institute for Feminist Law and Gender Law)
Dr. Eleanor Ann Nwadinobi, MBBS, EMA, FAAC
President
Medical Women’s International Association
Joëlle Payom
Founder
REZALLIANCE and REZ-CARE.COM
Moderator
Fay Yvette Parris, Esq.
Co-Chair, Women's Bar Association of the State of New York,
International Women's Rights Committee
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Thursday | 14 March 2024 | 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
UN Church Center
777 United Nations Plaza (corner 44th St. & First Ave.)
Second Floor
New York, NY
Note: refreshments will be served
Register for this event here
During CSW68, the United Nations Association of New York, the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York and Medical Women’s International Association will introduce a panel of experts who will share their personal narratives and novel global initiatives to strengthen institutions with a gender perspective and eliminate harassment in the workplace as well as to provide cultures of inclusion, belonging and advancement for all in the workplace.
Harassment in the world of work is a primary impediment to professional growth as it crushes the spirit and remains a glaring affront to well-established principles of human rights, international law and our humanity. Harassment unaddressed, unconfronted and uneliminated reflects the lack of will to establish systems and infrastructures that support its victims and prevent further victimization.
While the panel will broadly address the human toll of harassment in the workplace, including cyber-harassment, it will also highlight the problem of sexual harassment of women doctors in the health workspace and measures to address this issue.
Please join us for this timely panel discussion with our special guests: Maya Dougoud, associate professor in Switzerland at the School of Management Fribourg as well as Founder & Co–President of Strukturelle;and Zita Küng, President of FRI (Schweizerisches Institut für Feministische Rechtswissenschaft und Gender Law / Swiss Institute for Feminist Law and Gender Law); Dr. Eleanor Ann Nwadinobi, President of the Medical Women’s International Association; and Joëlle Payom, Founder of REZALLIANCE, a non-profit organization, and REZ-CARE.COM, a bespoke business consultancy firm. The panel will be moderated by Fay Yvette Parris, Co-Chair, Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, International Women's Rig
Panelists
Maya Dougoud
Maya Dougoud is associate professor in Switzerland at the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR, HES-SO). She teaches intellectual property law to master's students in entrepreneurship, as well as ICT law, in particular data protection, industrial and research data management. She also works as a legal counsel in public law and in academical law with the focus on compliance, digitalization and inclusion. She conducts research, ICT and SDG projects as part of her work. She has a number of personal entrepreneurial projects, in mechanical engineering, mobile applications and e-commerce.
Having trained at the University of Fribourg’s Faculty of Law (Bachelor and Master degree), she worked in a bilingual (FR/DE) law firm specializing in business law, then in the Office of the Public Prosecutor and by SWITCH whose mission is to enable, maintain and promote a secure and networked research and education infrastructure in Switzerland. She trained at EPFL Innovation Park Innosuisse Start-up Training, Business concept, a federal programme for startup founders and certified the Oxford Women’s Leadership Development Programme. She owns a didactic attestation. Currently, she is writing her dissertation for the University of Neuchâtel on “Open science and academic freedom.”
Alongside her duties as a parent to two teenagers, she is very active in NGOs. She is the former and youngest president of Women lawyers Switzerland and holds board positions in other professional associations (Schweizer IT-Juristinnen) and historical association about Women's suffrage (CH2021). She has also founded a number of non-profit associations and foundations in the fields of health (38,5), culture (ImproFR) and equality (www.strukturelle.ch). Since 2024, she is Member of the Swiss Federal Commission for Women's Issues.
Zita Küng
Zita Küng is president of the FRI foundation who promotes feminist and gender law studies. She has been committed to women's rights in Switzerland for several decades and has fought for equal rights for women.
From 1990 to 1996 she was one of the two heads of the “Office for Equality” in the city of Zurich.
She invests her energy and contributions in the empowerment of women and in effective gender and generational dialogue.
With her own company, she advises women and companies on the question of what contemporary human resources planning can look like in 2020. In 2021 she was awarded the Emilie Kempin-Spyri Prize and is the first winner of this prize, which is awarded by the Swiss Bar Association.
Dr. Eleanor Ann Nwadinobi
Dr. Eleanor Ann Nwadinobi is President of the Medical Women’s International Association. She is also Co-founder of the Every Woman Treaty, a coalition advocating for a global treaty to end all forms of violence against women.
An independent gender, health, women’s rights, and women, peace, and security expert, her career has spanned working as an anaesthetist in the UK, with ECOWAS on child trafficking, United Nations on girls’ education , HIV/AIDS and as lead researcher on gender-based violence for the World Bank. She worked with the African Union as team leader for the experts who drafted the stabilisation strategy for the four countries affected by Boko Haram.
As President of the Widows Development Organisation, Eleanor participated in bringing about State and National laws outlawing harmful widowhood practices in Nigeria.
Eleanor has presented numerous papers, has several publications and Honoured with several awards.
Her personal profile is featured in Friedrich Ebert Stiftung publication, “The hands that build Nigeria: Nigerian women role models” and The Encyclopedia of WHO is WHO in the Medical Profession in Nigeria 1950-2021.
Joëlle Payom
Joëlle Payom embodies the spirit of transformation and inclusivity, serving as a beacon of change in the corporate world. With a rich background spanning over 15 years in Sales and Procurement across France and Switzerland, her expertise is not just rooted in her professional experiences but also in her profound dedication to fostering safe, equitable, and inclusive work environments. This dedication has culminated in the creation of two pioneering ventures: REZALLIANCE, a non-profit organization, and REZ-CARE.COM, a bespoke business consultancy firm, both aimed at revolutionizing workplace dynamics through the pragmatic implementation of inclusion and the prevention of harassment.
As the visionary founder of REZALLIANCE, Joëlle has been instrumental in launching the "International Day Against Harassment and for Inclusion in the World of Work" (www.24may.org). This initiative has sparked vital global conversations, setting the stage for meaningful change in how organizations approach inclusivity and employee well-being. Her journey into this realm was ignited by a transformative personal experience that propelled her to pivot from a successful career in Sales and Procurement to championing the cause of workplace inclusion.
Under her leadership, Rezalliance has evolved into a vibrant ecosystem of multidisciplinary experts determined to join the efforts to end workplace harassment and promote a positive change. Joëlle's innovative platform, Rez-care.com, stands as a testament to her commitment to holistic support, offering access to vetted professionals dedicated to preserving individual integrity and promoting systemic organizational growth.
Moderator
Fay Yvette Parris, Esq.
Fay Yvette Parris, is an international law consultant, immigration law practitioner, and writer with extensive experience in humanitarian and international human rights law. Recently, she also provided extensive service to McGuire Woods, LLP. as part of a financial crimes investigations team. In her private practice she prepares National Interest Waiver petitions for physicians, medical researchers and scholars with exemplary portfolios, and has successfully represented individuals in removal proceedings, including those seeking asylum or withholding of removal under the UN Convention Against Torture.
She served as a Visiting Professional with the International Criminal Court (ICC), Office of the Prosecutor, where she advised the Court on modalities for prosecuting gender-based persecution which occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2011); as Advisor to the ICC Trust Fund for Victims for a June 2009 Board Meeting, and as a Supervising Attorney with the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. From June 2021-June 2022 she served as President of the Queens County Women's Bar Association, and she is currently a member of the American University School of International Service Board of Advisors, an Ex-Officio Director of the Global NGO Executive Committee and serving in her nineteenth year as Co-Chair of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) International Women's Rights Committee. Fay was the 2019 recipient of the WBASNY Marilyn R. Menge Award for outstanding work on behalf of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.
Fay and Michael A. Eastridge, Esq. recently co-founded Global Justice Advocates, PLLC through which they collaborate with other stakeholders to incorporate international human rights principles as practice within public and private spaces.
Fay received a Master of Arts (MA) in Law and International Affairs from The American University School of International Service; a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the American University Washington College of Law and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in International Affairs with a Minor in Criminal Justice from The American University, School of International Service.