CSW65 side event

We Need Women Leaders in Politics: Better Society, Strong Democracy

BIOGRAPHY

Panellists:

Zuraida binti Kamaruddin

Minister of Housing and Local Government, WPL Country Ambassador forMalaysia

Zuraida binti Kamaruddin is the current Member of Parliament for Ampang, Selangor and serves inthe Cabinet of Malaysia as the Minister of Housing and Local Government from 21 May 2018. She is thefirst woman to serve in that position. She is also a Central Committee Member of Parti Pribumi Bersatu
Malaysia (Malaysian United Indigenous Party), a component party of Perikatan Nasional, the rulingcoalition in Malaysia. Zuraida was elected to Parliament in the 2008 election, winning the seat of Ampang
from the then ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. She was re-elected in the 2013 and in the 2018 elections.
On International Women’s Day this year, Zuraida launched the Council of Malaysian Women PoliticalLeaders (COMWEL), comprising of women political leaders in the country. This initiative is meant toadvance the socio-economic standing of women in the country by strengthening women’s position
through the parliament. Zuraida is also Women Political Leader’s Country Ambassador for Malaysia, aposition she has held since 2018.
Zuraida also advocates environmental issues pertaining to waste management which falls under theambit of her Ministry. Under her leadership, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has in rapidly
undergone positive changes with the implementation of people-centric policies.

Golriz Ghahraman

Member of Parliament, New Zealand

Golriz Ghahraman is an Iranian-Kiwi refugee and made history as the first ever refugee to be sworn
in as an MP, having arrived in Aotearoa as a child asylum seeker with her family from Iran.
Her studies at Oxford, and her career as a lawyer in New Zealand and overseas, have focused on
enforcing human rights and holding governments to account. Her work has included restoring
communities after war and human rights atrocities, particularly empowering women engaged in peaceand justice initiatives.
In New Zealand, she has successfully advocated on human rights issues before the Supreme Court.
Before entering parliament as list MP for the Green Party, Golriz was active in the NGO community,
volunteering her skills to advance justice reform, refugee and migrant rights, and for family carers ofdisabled persons.

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CSW65 side event

We Need Women Leaders in Politics: Better Society, Strong Democracy

Zeina Hilal

Gender Partnership Programme,
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Zeina Hilai works to advance gender equality and human rights in and through parliaments since 20years. She joined the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 2006 where she is now the Manager of two
flagship programmes of the organization: Gender Partnership and Youth Participation. She works withparliaments from around the world to inform and support deliberations, legislation and policy-makingfor the elimination of gender-based discrimination and violence and for the empowerment of womenand youth. Promoting and supporting the participation of women and youth in politics is a key area ofher expertise and a key priority for the global organization of national parliaments that she serves.

Moderator:MIURA Mari
Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Sophia University,
Co-founder of the Academy for Gender Parity

Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. Author of Welfare Through Work: Conservative Ideas,
Partisan Dynamics, and Social Protection in Japan (Cornell University Press, 2012), editor of Japan’s
Women Representatives (in Japanese, Asahi Shimbun Shuppansha, 2016), co-editor of Gender Quotas inComparative Perspectives: Understanding the Increase in Women Representatives (in Japanese, AkashiShoten, 2014). She received the Wilma Rule Award (IPSA Award for the Best Research on Gender andPolitics) in 2018.

The Academy for Gender Parity
The Academy for Gender Parity trains young women to run for political office, with the aim ofhelping women and minorities to fully participate in decision-making processes and thus create asociety that truly respects gender equality and diversity. In March 2018, Professors Mari Miura and Kiyoung Shin established the Academy, and they have worked with other non-governmentalorganizations, community groups, and politicians to carry out the Academy’s mission of achieving
gender parity. The Academy offers a leadership course that teaches the skills and strategies needed tolaunch successful political campaigns, provides a training program for instructors, organizes public talkevents, and conducts research.

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