Last month (June 2012) the NUS Women's campaign and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) organised I Will…Lead the Way training for Muslim Women students in Birmingham.
Muslim Women are underrepresented nationally and face a number of barriers related to race, religion and gender which are obstacles to attaining positions of power or leadership. NUS and FOSIS recognise the need for this to be addressed and organised this event, training Muslim Women to Lead the Way.
This event was designed to give delegates the skills and confidence to stand for election in their union or society, or lead change in their wider communities. The day comprised of a combination of knowledge, skills and discussion sessions, with a host of inspirational speakers and experts on hand.
About the day
Jo Johnson, NUS Women’s Committee (on behalf of Estelle Hart, NUS Women’s Officer 2011-12) and Alaa’ Al-Samarrai, FOSIS VP for Student Affairs, kicked off the day of 40 delegates. This was followed by an inspiring key note speech by Salma Yaqoob, Leader of the Respect Party.
Various workshops were delivered throughout the day developing leadership skills for use in students’ unions and local communities. These were delivered by: Nurjahan Khatun, Julie Siddique (Director at ISB), Zahra Latif (Student and Chair of FOSIS North), Shahida Choudhry (Founder of Women’s Networking Hub) Muna Mohammed and Shazia Nazir (Coexistence Trust).
The event was a huge success with 96% of delegates saying they would recommend the event to friends.
The following article about Muslim Women Leadership was written by Alaa Al-Samarrai and Usman Ali (former NUS VP for HE, 2010-12) after the training.
NUS Women’s Campaign, NUS Black Students’ Campaign and FOSIS will continue to work together on improving representation of Muslim and Black Women students in the movement.
For more information
Please contact Kat Luckock (NUS Interfaith Coordinator).
To find out more about NUS Women’s Campaign and forthcoming I Will Lead the Way events please contact Kelley Temple (NUS Women’s Officer) or Emma Green (Development, Training and Events Officer - Liberation)