Event Speakers
Lloyd Axworthy is chair of the World Refugee Council, a group of leaders, practitioners and innovators from around the world, convened by the Centre for International Governance Innovation and supported by the Government of Canada.
Jean-Nicolas Beuze worked for more than 20 years with the United Nations before joining the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon as deputy representative for protection and inter-agency coordination.
Colleen Duggan is the program leader of the Governance and Justice Program at the International Development Research Centre.
Muzna Dureid is a Syrian refugee who arrived in Montreal in November 2016. Dureid has experience supporting protection programs through her work with the White Helmets (winner of the alternative Nobel prize for peace in 2016) and Folkekirkens Nødhjælp -DCA, including mines risk education and Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV). She is the founder and coordinator of the Women Refugees, not Captives campaign, which aims to end forced child marriage in Syrian refugee camps. She's a co-founder and board member of Syrian women's political movement, the first to engage Syrian women on politics and peace talks. Dureid is also the founder of Indigenous – Refugees movement, which includes that development of a safe-space for women and a series of workshops for youth that aim to build stronger bongs in Canada by learning about truth and reconciliation. She is a member of Network for refugee voices and the advisory committee for the 'Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LEARN)' project, operating in Lebanon, Turkey, Tanzania, and Kenya. The LEARN project focuses on the role of civil society in promoting protection and solutions for refugees and the implementation of the Global Compact for Refugees. Dureid is a laureate of the Sister to Sister mentorship program offered by the Nobel Women’s Initiative. She is also part of the Women Deliver Young Leaders group of 2018- 2019 in Canada. She has received the 2019 Canadian Excellence in Global Women and Children’s Health Award for the young category and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers Annual Award for outstanding advocacy of the human rights of refugees.
Alex Neve believes in a world in which the human rights of all people are protected. He has been a member of Amnesty International since 1985 and has served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch since 2000. In that role he has carried out numerous human rights research missions throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, and closer to home to such locations as Grassy Narrows First Nation in NW Ontario and to Guantánamo Bay. He speaks to audiences across the country about a wide range of human rights issues, appears regularly before parliamentary committees and UN bodies, and is a frequent commentator in the media. He has recently carried out research trips focusing on refugee protection concerns along the US/Mexico border and to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Alex is a lawyer, with an LLB from Dalhousie University and a Master’s Degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, taught at Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Ottawa, been affiliated with York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, and worked as a refugee lawyer in private practice and in a community legal aid clinic. He is on the Board of Directors of Partnership Africa Canada, the Canadian Centre for International Justice and the Centre for Law and Democracy. Alex has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. He is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has received honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from St. Thomas University, the University of Waterloo and the University of New Brunswick.
Jessie Thomson has been working on issues related to international development and humanitarian assistance for more than 15 years. She has a Masters in International Development Studies from the London School of Economics, with a focus on conflict, humanitarian action and forced migration. With a career spanning multiple sectors, including the Canadian public service, the United Nations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and now CARE Canada, Jessie brings a unique perspective on the critical operational and policy questions facing international development and humanitarian action. She is a respected thought-leader and partnership builder, with both programming and operational experience.
Jessie joined CARE Canada in 2011, focused on Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Response. Now, as Vice-President of the Partnerships for Global Change team, Jessie is responsible for ensuring that CARE Canada is at the leading edge of innovation, tracking the evolving nature of INGOs, mobilizing resources and developing future-ready and impactful programs and partnerships to meet the needs of the most vulnerable communities around the world. Jessie is a passionate feminist and gender equality advocate, bringing this lens to all of her work with CARE.
