Women and the Struggle for Democracy

Steve Clemons

Steve Clemons is Washington editor at large for The Atlantic as well as editor in chief of Atlantic LIVE. He also publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note at The Atlantic.com. Steve is Senior Fellow and Founder of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, a centrist think tank in Washington, D.C., where he previously served as executive vice president. Clemons writes and speaks frequently about the D.C. political scene, foreign policy and national security issues, as well as domestic and global economic policy challenges.

Kah Walla

Kah Walla is managing director of STRATEGIES!, an international consultancy firm. For over 25 years, Walla has been an activist focused on good governance, the rights of women and youth, and the rule of law. She has worked with civil society in Cameroon and throughout Africa, developing policies and projects at international, national, and local levels with farmers, traders, motor bike drivers, persons with disabilities, fishermen, student associations, and governments. On October 9, 2011, Walla ran as a candidate for the presidency of Cameroon. In 2007, she was elected to the Doula City Council and in the years to follow, stood up against a constitutional amendment aimed at eliminating presidential term limits and created a citizen movement to register voters and advocate for electoral reform. She has partnered with Vital Voices–ExxonMobil programs, African Women Leaders as an Economic Force Initiative, and African Women in Public Life.

Amira Yahyaoui

Amira Yahyaoui is a Tunisian peace activist and founder of Al Bawsala, an NGO that monitors the constitutional assembly and parliment to protect the free expression of the Tunisian people and advocate or human rights. Yahyaoui has been a tireless advocate for freedom of expression for over a decade. She comes from a family of human rights activists; when she was 16, her father, a judge, was forced from his job for speaking out against then-President Ben Ali. While still a teenager, Yahyaoui was tailed by secret police and beaten for her activism; ultimately, she sought refuge in Paris and was banned from her homeland for four years. Following her country’s revolution, Yahyaoui became an independent youth candidate in Tunisia’s first free election.