Scotland’s International Development Alliance is thrilled to announce the full line-up of speakers for our upcoming conference Global Citizenship in a Challenging World, to be held in Edinburgh on 20th September.
Book your space now!
Free for Alliance members.
Keynote speaker Baroness Shami Chakrabarti joins a diverse line up of speakers representing global citizenship, climate justice and global sustainable development. The conference will be chaired by Iffat Shahnaz, who brings her experience as a social researcher and campaigner to our community, and will facilitate panel discussions between our in-person and virtual speakers.
You can find out more about our speakers below:
Shami Chakrabarti is our keynote speaker for the 2022 Alliance Annual Conference.
Shami Chakrabarti (Baroness Chakrabarti CBE PC) is a human rights lawyer and campaigner, Labour Peer and was Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales from September 2016 to April 2020. She was the Director of Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties) from 2003 to 2016 and its In House Counsel from 2001 to 2003. Prior to that she was at the bar and then a Home Office lawyer (1996-2001).
The conference will be led and chaired by Iffat Shahnaz. Iffat is a social researcher, consultant and campaigner. She has worked in a number of roles across the third sector on areas related to community education, community development, adult learning, developing services focusing on anti-racist support, health and wellbeing programmes for young people, tackling violence against women whilst committed to embedding equality of access and support across whole organisations. Iffat embeds an anti-racist intersectional analysis, in all areas of her paid and unpaid work with progressive organisations nationally and also internationally
Luam Kidane’s research, writing and curatorial work examines movement building at the intersections of Indigenous governance models, cultural production and articulations of self-determination. She has worked as a researcher and strategist on food sovereignty, political economy, gender, sexuality, climate justice, and cultural production. Luam is currently the Director of Global Programs at Thousand Currents, a public foundation that funds formations working on economic justice, food sovereignty, and climate justice in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific
Jimmy Paul is Director of WEAll Scotland. Jimmy has worked in a range of leadership roles across health & social care for nearly ten years. He worked in strategic and operational roles across the NHS. He was latterly a Consultant at the Centre for Excellence for Looked after Children in Scotland (CELCIS) and was a co-chair at the world-leading Independent Care Review. He is an executive coach, a fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts and has represented Scotland internationally through initiatives at the World Economic Forum and the British Councils.
Tahseen Jafry is Director of the pioneering Mary Robinson Centre for Climate Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University. She has 25 years of extensive research and development experience on climate justice and social equity aspects of climate change and has worked in 14 countries in the Global South; Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Small Island States. Her portfolio is extensive ranging from the management of natural resources to the geo-political nature of climate justice discourse. Her most recent areas of attention includes just transition, climate just finance for adaptation & resilience, climate migration, conflict & security, gender and poverty targeting and the mental health impacts of climate change.
Julius Ng’oma is the National Coordinator for Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC) in Malawi and has been leading the network since 2014. Julius has supported the Government of Malawi delegation to the Conference of Parties (CoPs) every year since 2014, contributed to Negotiations on Adaptation, Loss and Damage and Finance related Negotiations during CoPs including during Subsidiary Body of Implementations (SBIs) and Subsidiary Bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) Sessions.
Sejal Patel is an environmental economist at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Her work focuses on climate and environment finance, public policy and governance, particularly in relation to low-carbon climate-resilient development, and on the themes of supporting inclusive and equitable processes that bridge local priorities and voices with the national and international levels.
Dr Tracy Morse is Senior Lecturer and Head of Strathclyde Centre for Sustainable Development. Having previously been based in Malawi for 20 years, she leads an interdisciplinary research team with a focus on addressing the determinants of health in low and middle income countries.
Màiri McAllan MSP is a Scottish politician serving as Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform since May 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party, she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Clydesdale since 2021.
Elizabeth Wathuti is a Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which nurtures young people to love nature and be environmentally conscious at a young age and has now planted 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya. She is a recipient of a Wangari Maathai Scholarship award for her outstanding passion and commitment to environmental conservation.
Mikaela Loach is a climate justice activist, co-host of The Yikes Podcast, writer and 5th year medical student. She is one of three claimants who took the UK government to court to challenge the Oil & Gas Association’s policy in the North Sea and the subsidies and tax breaks the industry is given by the UK government. Her organising work and Instagram focuses on highlighting the harm caused by the fossil fuel industry, and the intersections of the climate crisis with oppressive systems such as white supremacy and migrant injustices.
Bobby McCormack is the co-founder and CEO of Development Perspectives, which specialises in Global Citizenship Education. Bobby worked as a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Humanities in Dundalk Institute of Technology from 2006 – 2019 and has an MA in Development Studies and is a qualified mediator. Bobby is a board member of Dóchas (Umbrella Group for Irish Development NGOs) and in 2017 was the recipient of the Dóchas, “Global Citizen of the Year“. Bobby has produced 5 documentaries, is an avid Man United fan and loves Dogs.
Bernadette O’Hare is a senior lecturer in Global Health at the University of St Andrews. She is also a senior lecturer in Global Health at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Malawi and a consultant paediatrician. Dr O’Hare worked in the NHS for 20 years, most recently as a consultant paediatrician for eight years, before working for ten years in Africa as a paediatrician and public health doctor. She now studies the international influences on domestic revenue and thus the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), sits on the Working Group on Climate Change and chairs the International Strand. She joined the Scottish Global Health Co-ordination Unit where she initiated the Active Global Citizenship strand of work and currently is the lead champion of academia. She sits on the Scottish Chief Medical Officers (CMO) Global Health Executive Committee.
Godlove Dzebam is currently the coordinator of Draufsicht Bamenda, a youth-led organization that focuses on local solutions to global questions through filmmaking in Bamenda-Cameroon. Godlove holds a Master’s degree in Educational Quality for developing countries from the University of Bamberg-Germany and serves as a teacher and teacher trainer in an early childhood centre in Bamenda.
John Primrose is the head of International Division within the Directorate of External affairs in the Scottish Government, which includes management of Scotland’s international development policy and portfolio. Prior to joining SG John spent 10 years with FCDO (previously DFID and FCO) in policy roles in the UK, as well as in senior leadership in Ethiopia and Nigeria. The previous 10 years saw John working for humanitarian and development NGOs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Jamie Livingstone is Head of Oxfam Scotland. Jamie was appointed Head of Oxfam Scotland in late 2013 having joined as Campaigns and Communications Manager in 2011. Jamie was previously a print and broadcast journalist, including Political Correspondent on STV News. In his current role, he oversees Oxfam’s policy, advocacy, campaigns and communications in Scotland, as well as our project activity. Jamie is also a Director of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and plays a leading role within the Disasters Emergency Committee in Scotland.