Third Annual International Law Conference on the Status of Women

The Conference commemorates International Women’s Day (and — this year, for the first time ever — the International Day of Women Judges, March 10) and was held in the lead up to the 66th Regular Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The Conference consists of three panels, which focus on separate legal and policy issues confronting women around the world. The first panel follows up on the UN Commission of the Status of Women’s 2021 theme of the eliminating violence against women by discussing the pursuit of justice for women who have been victims of grave atrocities in conflict zones and modern-day genocides. The first panel explores the engagement of survivors of such violence in the process of justice and the use of universal jurisdiction to convict the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes. The second panel explores the UN Commission of the Status of Women’s 2022 theme of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programs. The third panel provides gripping first-hand, “behind-the-scenes” accounts of the dire plight of Afghan women judges, prosecutors, and lawyers (including those who remain trapped in the country today, as well as those who have escaped), as we celebrate the “sisterhood” of courageous and inspiring women worldwide who are continuing to fight for the women and girls — and the future — of Afghanistan.

First Panel: Violence Against Women, Ending Impunity and the Global Pursuit of Justice

Speakers:             
Dr. Elizabeth M. Zechenter, Visiting Scholar, Emory University
Jacqueline Murekatete, Founder, Genocide Survivors Foundation
Esther Dingemans, Executive Director, Global Survivors Fund
Annie McAdams, Annie McAdams, P.C.

Moderator:        
Catherine van Kampen, Co-Chair of the UN Committee

Second Panel: Women’s Empowerment through Safety and Security and Mitigating Risks Against Climate Change and Environmental Disaster

Speakers:             
Laurie N. Robinson Haden, President, & CEO, Corporate Counsel Women of Color
Ana L. Oliveira, President & CEO, The New York Women’s Foundation
Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, United Nations 
Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell, CEO, Girls Not Brides
Jana L. Walker, Senior Attorney, Cherokee, Loyal Shawnee, and Delaware, Indian Law

Moderator:
Doris Toyou, Co-chair of the African Affairs Committee

Third Panel: Escape from Kabul – and Those Left Behind: The Harrowing “Life-or-Death” Saga of Afghan Women Judges, Prosecutors, & Lawyers and the Heroic Women-Led Efforts to Secure Their Safety

Speakers:
Dr. Sima Samar, Visiting Scholar at the Carr Center for Human Rights, Kennedy School, Harvard University;  Former Chair, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and Former Member, U.N. Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, Kabul, Afghanistan and USA
Hon. Vanessa Ruiz, Senior Judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals and Immediate Past President, International Association of Women Judges, Washington, D.C.

Moderator:
Hon. Marjorie Margolies, Founder/President, Women’s Campaign International, Women’s Campaign International; Head of U.S. Delegation to U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995);  Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives; and Emmy Award-Winning TV Journalist

Sponsoring Committees:
Foreign and Comparative Law, Richard Langan, Chair
Task Force on the Independence of Lawyers and Judges,Christopher Pioch & Jessenia Vazcones, Co-Chairs
United Nations, Clayton T. Cheney & Catherine van Kampen, Co-Chairs

Co-Sponsoring Committees:
African Affairs Committee, Scott Caplan & Doris Toyou, Co-Chairs
Council on International Affairs, Mark A. Meyer, Chair
International Human Rights Committee, Ramya Kudekallu, Chair
Sex and Law Committee, Olympias Iliana Konidaris & Farah Diaz-Tello, Co-Chairs

Co-Sponsoring Organizations:
NYSBA’s Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
NYSBA’s President’s Committee for Leadership Development
NYSBA’s Women in Law Section
American Bar Association’s International Law Section 
American Bar Association’s International Law Section – Women’s Interest Network