“‘We are born equal’: Graça Machel and her International
Contributions”
A Talk by Kathleen Sheldon, PhD
DATE: Friday, November 4, 2022
TIME: 12:00 -1:00 PM (PDT)
LOCATION: Zoom (RSVP to receive link)
Graça Machel is known as having been first lady of two countries, Mozambique and South Africa. In this talk, the focus will be on her work with the United Nations and with a variety of nongovernmental organizations, much of which she accomplished between her two marriages, or after she was widowed for a second time. In the 1990s she wrote an influential report on the impact of conflict on children. Later she served in leadership positions in numerous organizations focused on women’s rights, education, democracy, and related issues. Most recently she has been active in working to end domestic violence. Her international political activity has been most evident in the years when she was not serving as a first lady.
Kathleen Sheldon is a Research Affiliate at the Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center. Her research and publications focus on African women’s history, and particularly on Mozambique. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. Her books include Pounders of Grain: A History of Women, Work, and Politics in Mozambique, and African Women: Early History to the 21st Century.
