In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).
The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025.
We are thrilled to announce VOW and IPPNWC’s joint delegation to the UN CSW69. Our incredible team of leaders and delegates will bring key issues from our organizations to the global stage, focusing on disarmament education, advocacy for the health consequences of violence, nonviolent conflict resolution, and social justice.
This delegation is a unique opportunity to build relationships, learn, and amplify voices that often go unheard. Our team will engage with global allies and engage in ongoing discussions about peace, equity, and human rights.
We will be active on social media throughout the event, sharing updates, insights, and experiences from the forefront of global advocacy. Additionally, we will organize a report-back event for you to learn more about our endeavors and the impact of our work.
Meet our incredible delegation below, and stay tuned for more updates as we work to make a difference at CSW69!
Marney Cuff-Eisenbarth: Head of Delegation, IPPNWC Board Member & VOW Member
Marney Cuff-Eisenbarth, MRT-R; MSW – Social Policy/Indigenous Peoples Policy; ecological farmer. Marney studied radiation biology at McMaster University in the 1970s when the only data in this realm of study arose from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki experience – from that point on she has been deeply interested, and concerned, with all in the realm of “nuclear”. Marney’s other passion is in the realm of social justice and thus she returned to post-secondary to gain knowledge and skills in social movements/social change, community organizing, in particular in the realm of Indigenous Peoples Policies and rights. Recall, Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and around the globe, are disproportionately impacted by nuclear weapons/testing/mining.
While a long time member of Voice of Women and a volunteer for ICAN, she has often attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, (the impact of nuclear weapons is gender based), as well as to negotiations on the TPNW /1MSP (2017, 2022).
Lia Holla: Delegation Co-Lead-Executive Director of IPPNWC & VOW Member
Executive Director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Canada. Member of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace since 2017. 1 of 25 global United Nations Office for disarmament affairs youth Leaders for Tomorrow.
Alley McDonald: Delegation Co-Lead– VOW National Coordinator
Alley is the National Coordinator of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. She is a Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies Graduate from the University of Waterloo. Additionally, Alley is a Mediation Service Coordinator of the Caregiver-Teen Program, and newly appointed Service Coordinator of the Restorative Responses to Harm and Crime Program, at restorative justice organization Community Justice Initiatives Waterloo Region.
Linda Kalafatides-Partnership & Networking Lead– Science for Peace Board Member; VOW Board Member
Linda Kalafatides is a secondary school educator and curriculum writer in the Toronto District School Board. Inspired by her students’ desire to advocate for change, she has been dedicated to developing local and provincial curriculum in gender studies, anti-violence, peace and disarmament for over twenty years. Ms. Kalafatides is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) and Science for Peace. She is also an active member of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Eco Committee and The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Canada (IPPNWC).
Quanita Khan- Policy Lead & VOW Member
Quanita Khan is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, studying legal history and philosophy. Her research interests include analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of international organizations and legal institutions and examining their interactions with the citizenry. Her research interests include human rights violations, gender violence, state-endorsed human rights violations, and interactions between foreign states to secure a balance of power in our current geopolitical world.
Quanita wants to contribute to a growing body of legal academia that focuses on humanizing existing policies and laws in the interest of ‘protecting’ victims or vulnerable populations.
da (IPPNWC) and served as a Director at Medical Herstory. She has also collaborated with organizations like Socios en Salud in Peru on health improvement initiatives aimed at strengthening healthcare systems.
Clara Conceicao- Partnership & Networking Lead, & VOW Member
Clara is pursuing a dual JD at the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy, where she serves as the 1L Dual Class Representative. Clara’s academic achievements include an M.A. in Humanities from York University, where she presented her research on Indigenous constitutional pluralism at the Association for Philosophy and Literature’s conference in 2022. She also holds a B.A. in Honors Justice, Political Philosophy, and Law, and a Certificate in Leadership and Cross-Cultural Literacy from McMaster University.
Her experience spans roles such as research fellow at the Center for Global Health Security and Diplomacy, where she wrote a report on the International Pandemic Agreement, and political coordinator for IPPNWC, advocating for nuclear disarmament. Clara serves as the Climate Action Committee Executive within the Canadian Council of Young Feminists and has participated in global forums, including the Ninth Meeting of States Parties at the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva.
Brenda Arakaza- Administrative Support Lead & VOW Board Member
Brenda Arakaza is a leader in peacebuilding, reconciliation, and social justice. She is the Director of Partnerships and Resource Development at Returning to Spirit, fostering reconciliation through dialogue and systemic change. As President of the National Council of Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, she leads advocacy for global justice and grassroots mobilization. She has extensive experience in policy advocacy, governance, and partnership development, with a deep commitment to amplifying marginalized voices. In 2023, she received the Individual Innovation & Impact Award from Cooperation Canada for her contributions to community-driven development. As a delegate for the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace at CSW69, she continues to champion feminist peacebuilding and the meaningful inclusion of women in decision-making. She is passionate about non-violent conflict resolution, women’s leadership, and building cultures of peace at all levels.
Liv Cerba (she/her)– VOW Member
Liv is a passionate advocate for gender equality, both at the national and multilateral level. By day, she’s a Junior International Project Officer at the Paul Gérin-Lajoie Foundation, where she assists in the management of women’s climate resilience programs in Bénin and the DRC. In her free time, she is the co-founder of a youth organization called Génération Cinq, creating a momentum for youth involvement towards reaching SDG5. She’s passionate about youth and CSO participation in multilateral spaces, as well as driving change through effective advocacy for a more gender equal world. As a Cooperation Canada’s Emerging Leader, she is dedicated to making the international cooperation field more inclusive and centered around expertise from the Global South / Global majority. She is also committed to a more peaceful world through disarmament and collective action, and looks forward to contributing to VOW’s mission at CSW69.
Paulina Chan– VOW Member
Paulina Chan is the Canada-based consultant for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). In her role, she carries out political advocacy at the federal parliamentary level, and event planning and coordination at the public level.
She has experience working in Canadian Parliament for Members of Parliament from both government and opposition, from which she developed a strong competence in federal politics that she applies in her political advocacy work.
Through participation in the CSW69, she looks forward to enhancing her understanding of the gendered consequences of conflict, as well as the role women can play in conflict mitigation and resolution, and integrating this knowledge into her approach to disarmament advocacy.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Toronto and a double-master’s degree in International Social and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Fudan University.
Thauana Ribeiro de Morais– VOW Member
Thauana Morais, is an Entrepreneur & educator, devoted to cultivating a more equitable business ecosystem. With a diverse professional experience that encompasses experiences in Europe, South America and Asia, her work extends to various opportunities worldwide. Thauana is a community programs team lead at YWCA Halifax. She managed similar programs most notably in China and Brazil, where she co-founded SheUp and auspicious woman edtech – “auspicious woman educational technologies”, which is a SaaS educational platform with tools based on holistic approaches to entrepreneurial journeys.
Sahar Ahadyar-VOW Member
I was born in Afghanistan, ethnically Uzbek, and have lived nearly all my life in Vienna, Austria. I am currently pursuing two master’s degrees at the University of Vienna, one in Political Science and the other in Development Studies. I worked with ICAN Austria, the Austrian branch of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, for 2.5 years, where I had the privilege to learn, grow, and engage deeply in advocacy. I am passionate about nuclear disarmament and gender equality, with a particular interest in the relationship between nuclear weapons and gender. I am also deeply interested in feminist foreign policy and its ideas on peace and conflict resolution.