Book Launch
The Twelfth of February: Canadian Aid for Gender Equality during the Rise of Violent Extremism in Pakistan
by Rhonda Gossen
Sponsored by the Bill Graham Centre and the Canadian International Council
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Time: 4 pm-6 pm, Toronto time
Location: Hybrid event. Online via Zoom and in person at the Campbell Conference Facility, Munk School, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON, M5S 3K7
About the Book
The Twelfth of February assesses how women’s organizations work to resist violent extremism and makes the connection between gender inequality and security threats in a volatile region. Rhonda Gossen draws important lessons for foreign policy and Canada's feminist international assistance policy (FIAP) on the need to include a gender lens on security, development and diplomacy to help combat forces threatening human rights and democracy. The book shows how security policies in the past missed the gender element as early warning signs of violent extremism. Despite this, the gender equality movement in Pakistan supported by Canada did make tangible headway in contrast to neighbouring Iran and Afghanistan. At a critical moment for Pakistan, Canada stopped funding of women’s organizations, ending a legacy of leadership on women’s rights. Was it a lost legacy? The Twelfth of February addresses a problem that is all too timely: given violent extremism’s devastating impact on development gains including women’s rights, security, and the elimination of gender-based violence, what is the future role for international development?
About the Speakers
Kathy Gannon is a journalist, author and speaker specializing in Afghanistan and Pakistan residing in Islamabad. For 35 years she covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for The Associated Press as chief correspondent and later news director. She has also covered the 2006 war in south Lebanon, the Iraq war, the Central Asian States, and Azerbaijan.A native of Timmins, Ontario, she was the city editor at the Kelowna Courier in British Columbia and worked at several Canadian newspapers before her career took her overseas. She has lived in Israel, Japan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has received two honorary doctorates of letters and of education from Ontario, Canada universities and is the recipient of numerous awards. She is currently an Asper Fellow at the University of Western Ontario.
Rhonda Gossen is a former Canadian diplomat and Canadian International Development Agency manager, a consultant to the United Nations (UNDP and UNHCR) and the author of this Book. Rhonda worked in Pakistan 3 times over 3 decades and was Head of development cooperation from 2010-2013. She also worked in Pakistan for UNICEF and the world bank.Other postings include the Philippines, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Ghana. She has worked on development and crisis response in more than 12 countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She writes on international development, humanitarian response and other global issues.
Fayyaz Baqir is a development practitioner and author. He served as Senior Advisor on Civil Society for the United Nations, and CEO of Trust for Voluntary Organizations. He has taught and researched at the universities of Ottawa, Tilburg, McGill, and Gothenburg. His professional and academic interests include participatory development, human rights, aid effectiveness, poverty alleviation, and social accountability. He taught cross-border video conference-based courses on the themes relating to Justice and Peace, Social Change, and Politics of Human Development in Pakistan for Georgetown University, Harvard University, Wellesley College, and Fatima Jinnah University. He received the Top Contributors Award from the UNDP’s Global Poverty Reduction Network in 2007 and 2008 and the Best Book Award from the Council of Social Sciences Pakistan in 2022. He has authored numerous journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, training manuals, and books on participatory development, inclusive governance, and poverty alleviation.