SUNY Purchase alumnus Adotei Akwei returned to the college on March 20 to discuss the struggle of women’s rights in Africa. He spoke in front of a crowd of students and professors, some of whom taught him more than 30 years ago.
Akwei is the managing director for government relations for Amnesty International USA, a political analyst, a campaigner for civil, political, and social rights, and has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. He graduated from Purchase College with a bachelor’s in political science in 1984 and has spent a lifetime in political advocacy since.
Connie Lobur, a political science professor at Purchase, introduced Akwei, having taught him several decades ago.
Topics in Akwei’s lecture ranged from women being unable to own property or businesses in many African countries to the effects of female genital mutilation. He also discussed the progress that women have seen in some countries such as increased representation in some governments and having better access to schools.
“The struggle to change people’s perceptions of rights engenders personal change,” Akwei said. “I think technology has allowed us to turn more people to human rights monitors.”
The rise of the Internet and smartphones has helped information become public and widely available immediately. This allows serious human rights issues such as the terrorist organization, Boko Haram, kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls to become worldwide news when it happens.
Suzanne Kessler, dean of liberal arts and sciences, said, “African countries face a lot of problems and their human rights records aren’t great, but there are pockets of optimism and we should be involved. I didn’t know that Rwanda had such a high number of women in government.”
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, almost 50 percent of Rwanda’s parliament consists of women. This is the highest figure in the world, while the U.S. Congress consists of less than 20 percent women.
Akwei said, “Challenges on advancing women’s rights in Africa are huge, but there has been progress in the last 20 years.”
The lecture was part of the Mary Edwards Memorial Lecture in honor of the political science professor at Purchase from the 1970s to the 1990s. After Edwards’ death in 1994, friends and family members set up an endowment to fund annual lectures in her honor.
