Kohinoor Yeasmin – Our International Guest Speaker
The Queensland Fair Trade Collective are excited to announce our guest speaker, Kohinoor Yeasmin, for the Fair Trade High Tea during Fair Trade Fortnight 2010.
Kohinoor Yeasmin, CEO of Fair Trade organisation Tarango in Bangladesh, will be visiting Australia during Fair Trade Fortnight (1-14 May 2010) to speak about her experiences working with disadvantaged women and her personal the positive and far-reaching impact of fair trade.
HER ACHIEVEMENTS
Her work with some of the most marginalised women in Bangladesh has had far-reaching impact, giving many women their chance at economic independence and empowerment. Kohinoor has played a fundamental part in reducing gender inequality and increasing family access to essential services across Bangladesh, helping to establish a medical clinic for all families to access and in helping the local women overcome gender discrimination.
She is particularly proud of enabling these women to have confidence to challenge gender discrimination and achieve their goals. When asked about her biggest lesson in life, Kohinoor said, “Women need the opportunity to be economically empowered. Without this, they are effectively unable to raise their voices and have no independence.”
HER LIFE
After witnessing countless acts of domestic violence in her village as a child, Kohinoor was forced to experience the devastating effects of poverty from an early age. An educated woman thanks solely to the support of her schoolteacher mother, Kohinoor still had to fight for her right to a full education, due to the restraints on women in Bangladeshi culture and the expectations for adolescent women to marry instead of studying. Despite low levels of tertiary education for women in Bangladesh, she worked hard to complete her Masters in Social Sciences and Business Administration, with her personal struggle to receive an education becoming the inspiration behind her lifelong passion for women’s rights.
Eventually choosing to swap a budding career with the World Health Organisation for a position as a social services worker helping disadvantaged women, Kohinoor has continually endeavoured to contribute positively to Bangladeshi society and help others. In 2000, she became the CEO of Tarango, an incredible achievement in a society bound by gender discrimination. When asked on the difficulties of working in a male-dominated society, Kohinoor said, “In every step I face challenges. All women heading NGOs [non-government organisations] face the same difficulties. The men often underestimate us [the women], so we created our own forum where we share experiences, discuss our challenges and support one another.”
FAIR TRADE FORTNIGHT 2010
Kohinoor has a wealth of personal experience and knowledge to draw from, and we hope to give you a glimpse of the very real and positive effects of fair trade during her time in Australia with us. She will be speaking at the Fair Trade High Tea during Fair Trade Fortnight 2010 on Saturday 8 May, at the Arts Centre, St Margaret’s School, Ascot, in addition to several other dates over the country during the Fair Trade Fortnight.
