The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination's Project on Gender in the Global Community will hold a lunch seminar, "A Voice from Syrian Kurdistan: The Civil War, Refugees, and Women," on Tuesday, October 6, 2014, at 12:00 p.m. in 012 Bendheim Hall. The guest speaker will be Syrian women's rights activist, Elham Ahmed. To attend, RSVP to Angella Matheney.

Elham Ahmed was born in the Kurdish city of Afrin in Rojava, Syria. She is one of the founders of the Yekîtîya Star, the Star Union of Kurdish women in Rojava. She is also a founding member and executive committee member of the Democratic Society Movement (TEVDEM), the governing body of Rojava that coordinates and mobilizes people at the grassroots level and connects them to Parliament. As an active member of the Syrian Women's Initiative for Peace and Democracy (SWIPD), Ahmed has attended numerous international meetings on women and women's rights. Ahmed has been active in the Kurdish freedom struggle since the 1990s, focusing especially on women's rights.