You asked to hear directly from women who had put themselves forward for election. You wanted to know what local government looked like in other countries.

SHE listened.

We are very proud to welcome Councillor Peymana Assad to SHESchool. Peymana is a Labour councillor for the London Borough of Harrow since 2018.

Join us for an hour next Tuesday 23rd June at 7pm to hear Peymana talk and answer questions about:

• What drew her to politics
• Her experience of being a young female candidate in both a local and a general election
• What the job of a councillor is like in London

Zoom

After you have registered here on eventbrite, we will circulate the zoom link to you before the event via email.

Peymana Assad

is a Labour Councillor in the London Borough of Harrow, elected in 2018 making her the first person of Afghan origin elected to public office in the UK. She stood as the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Ruislip Northwood and Pinner in the 2019 General Election. Alongside her Council duties, she works in Parliament as Head of Office for a Labour MP. Peymana was a founding member of the Fabian Society’s International Policy Group and has worked extensively across the charity sector with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development on Afghanistan.

She has sat on various boards for British charities working on gender, peace and security across the Middle East and Central Asia. In 2014 she was chosen by the US Ambassador to the UK as a rising star in the UK and as a result was invited to President Obama’s meeting with young people in London in 2016. More info here: www.peymanaassad.co.uk

About the See Her Elected Project

The overall aim of the SHE Project is to empower women in the rural constituencies of the North West and Midlands to engage in electoral politics.

Despite increases in the numbers of female TDs and Councillors following recent elections, 78% of TDs and 76% of councillors are still male. What is noteworthy is that the increases gained have been mainly in urban constituencies. The 2019 Local Elections saw women gain 48% of the seats on Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. In contrast, women’s representation on Longford County Council reduced to 5%, Mayo County Council to 6% and Donegal County Council to 11%. Such disparity in women’s representation within urban and rural constituencies was a key factor in the establishment of the SHE Project.

The SHE Project is a collaboration between the Women’s Manifesto Project (a Longford Women’s Link programme) and 50:50 North West, organisations with strong links at grassroots level. A unique project, it is ‘ploughing new furrows’ in developing an innovative rural strategy to ensure women from our rural constituencies gain their rightful place on our councils and in Dáil Eireann.

SHESchool

Our aim with SHESchool is to demystify local politics. #SHESchool is developing based on the feedback of the May and June 2020 foundation class participants and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the women engaging with the project.

Over the summer of 2020, our seminar series will see a variety of speakers talk to us about aspects of politics that you asked to hear about. Our next modules starting in the autumn will allow students to pick between a variety of policy, practical and politics classes.

To get involved please contact Michelle at info@seeherelected.ie.