From top to bottom, left to right: Ms. Sarojeni Rengam, Executive Director of Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP), is the new Chairperson of IBON International; Dr. Roselynn Musa of Agenda for Change is the new Vice-chair; Ms. Amy Padilla is the Executive Director since 2018; Ms. Jennifer del Rosario-Malonzo, current Policy, Communications and Training Head, is the new Deputy Director.

The strong leadership of women has been driving IBON International for the past years, and the recent designation of women in key positions affirms that such leadership will continue.

Ms. Sarojeni Rengam, Executive Director of Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP), is the new Chairperson of IBON International as affirmed in the Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting on March 9, 2020. Meanwhile, Dr. Roselynn Musa of Agenda for Change is the new Vice-chair.

The BoT also confirmed the appointment of Ms. Jennifer del Rosario-Malonzo, current Policy, Communications and Training Head, as Deputy Director. Malonzo has been appointed by the Executive Director, Ms. Amy Padilla, to assist in carrying out duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of IBON International. Padilla has been leading the helm, with strong collective management and BoT support, since 2018.

These women leaders have extensive experience in policy and advocacy work in different focus areas. Rengam advocates for the elimination of the negative impacts of pesticide to people and the advancement of food sovereignty, environmental sustainability, and welfare of rural women. Musa forwards women’s rights and welfare especially of African women through research and capacity building. Malonzo’s experience in policy research and advocacy encompasses a broad range of areas from development finance to human rights and transformative education.

“Core of our work has been support for people and their organisations’ right to development, embodied in our Rights-based Democracy Strategic Plan. Women are key to claiming these rights as they face various levels and forms of barriers rooted in unjust economic and political structures. With our new Chair, Vice-Chair and Deputy Director, we are confident that our work for the advancement of women’s rights along with other oppressed and marginalised sectors will be further strengthened,” Padilla said.

Women’s leadership is important in the international development arena where women’s rights and development issues remain sidelined, or are regarded as special issues instead of being conditions upon which analyses and solutions must be based. Moreover, instead of token participation, the key role and contributions of women, especially of the global South, must be duly recognised and advanced.

Five of the seven BoT members of IBON International are women; while five of the six members of the Management Committee are also women.

IBON International congratulates its newly designated leaders. Having these women leaders in the institution is an affirmative follow-up to its recognition last March 8 of women’s history of collective action and resistance across the globe that continues today. ##