Board of Directors
Dr. Sylvia “Guy” Claudio Estrada (Philippines), Board Chair
Guy is a Doctor of Medicine who also holds a PhD in Psychology. She is the Director of the University of the Philippines Centre for Women’s Studies and Professor of the Department of Women and Development Studies, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines. She is co-founder, and Chair of the Board of Directors of Likhaan, an SRHR non-governmental organisation. Sylvia participated in various actions around the ICPD in Cairo in 1994 an official NGO representative. She has also been involved at the national level in monitoring the implementation of the CEDAW, ICPD and the Beijing Platform of Action.
Simcha De Haan (The Netherlands), Treasurer
Simcha is a media professional, working freelance as researcher, documentary director, advisor, project manager for national, regional and local television and corporate clients. She is currently working for the EU grant office of the Utrecht University, as the project manager of a European Cultural and Television heritage project, called “EU screen”.
Eleanor Conda (Philippines)
Eleanor, a feminist lawyer and a human rights advocate; has been fighting for human rights at national, regional, and international level for almost two decades. She was deeply involved in the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, the 2000 Beijing +5 Review, some sessions of the UN Commission on Women, and the UN Open-ended Working Group that negotiated the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW (1996-1999) as the NGO member of Philippine government delegations in international standard-setting and policymaking. Eleanor co-founded and was the first Executive Director of the Philippine-based Women’s Legal Bureau, Inc., known for its pioneering work in feminist lawyering.
Marlene Gerber Fried (USA)
Marlene Gerber Fried is a long time reproductive rights activist from the U.S.A. She was founding president of and is currently on the board of the National Network of Abortion Funds, an organisation of 104 grassroots groups across the U.S. that provides direct financial assistance to women seeking abortions, and also advocates for access to abortion and comprehensive reproductive health care. She also works with young activists through her job, teaching at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College.
Anissa Hélie (Algeria)
Raised in Algiers, Algeria; Anissa Hélie is currently teaching at John Jay College, NY. She is also active in women’s human rights advocacy initiatives at a global level. As such, she has been involved with various women’s organisations – such as the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, N.J. (1997-2000) – as well as transnational networks – serving as Director of the Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) International Coordination Office for 5 years (2000-2004).
Leila Hessini (Algeria)
Born in Algeria, has worked on women’s rights issues for twenty years. She has lived and worked in Egypt, Morocco, and the United States; where she currently is the Director of Women’s Organising and Community Mobilisation at Ipas, a global reproductive rights organisation. She has published widely on issues related to women’s rights in Islam, abortion in Muslim societies, women’s production of knowledge in the Maghreb, and women’s strategies to combat violence. She is on the board of the SisterSong women of colour reproductive health collective in the U.S. and is chair-elect of the Global Fund for Women’s board. .
Gulalai Ismail (Pakistan)
Gulalai Ismail is a young feminist working for the empowerment of young women in Pakistan. At the age of 16, Gulalai and fellow young women, created Aware Girls; a young women-led organisation working towards the empowerment of young women by strengthening their leadership capacity, enabling them to work for social change and advocate for equal access to health, education, governance, political participation, and other social services. She is co-Chairperson of the Youth Advocacy Network working on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Young People; Member of Gender Working Group of UNOY (United Network of Young Peacebuilders), Board member of IHEYO (International Humanistic and Ethical Youth Alliance), and District Focal Point of Y-PEER (Youth Peer Education Network).
She is currently finishing her M.Phil in Biotechnology from Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, and has studied Sociology and Anthropology as additional subjects.
She is one of WGNRR's Youth Board Members.
Djingarey Maiga (Mali)
Djingarey Maiga has been the President of Femmes et Droits Humains since 2000. She is also the Coordinator of the African Network for Medical Abortion (ANMA) and for the International Consortium for Medical Abortion (ICMA). Her work aims at strengthening women’s human rights, specifically on the issues of reproductive and sexual health, political participation, female genital mutilation, and economic and educational rights. She has experience working with these issues at the local, national, regional, and international levels.
Felistah Mbithe (Kenya)
Felistah Mbithe is the founder and Executive Director of Fortress of Hope Africa (Kenya); an adolescent girls’ organisation that was initiated to empower les- fortunate girls; socially and economically. She is a strong sexual and reproductive rights activist with a passion for advancing the SRHR of adolescent girls/youth. She has experience working with women and girls at the grassroots, National, Regional and International level.
She is one of WGNRR's Youth Board Members.
Nirvana González Rosa (Puerto Rico)
Biography coming soon!
Jeannette Slootbeek (The Netherlands)
Jeanette is an International Consultant on Sexual Health and Sexual Rights. Her specialisations include Reproductive health and rights, Gender issues, Sexuality and young people, HIV/AIDS and Gay and Lesbian issues.