Evin Incir is a Swedish Social Democrat, with Kurdish roots, who grew up in the suburbs of Bergsjön in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. She is a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and is serving on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Committee on Development and Committee on Foreign affairs. In addition to her committee assignments, Incir is part of the Parliament's delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, the European Parliament's Rapporteur in charge of the relations with Palestine and a member of the LGBTIQ intergroup. She is also a co-president of the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI). ARDI exists to promote racial equality, counter racism, and educate about non-discrimination in the work of the European Parliament. Evin is the former Secretary General of International Union of Socialist Youth and former Deputy International Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Sweden. Evin fights to promote democracy, equality and feminism in Europe and beyond.
Wrap up of the two panels
By Shada Islam
Shada Islam is a respected and well-known Brussels-based commentator on European Union affairs who now works independently as an advisor/analyst/strategist and commentator on Europe Africa Asia Geopolitics Trade and Inclusion.
Shada worked for nine years as Director of Europe and Geopolitics at Friends of Europe, an influential independent think tank based in Brussels.
She now runs her own Brussels-based global media, strategy and advisory company, New Horizons Project.
Shada is Senior Advisor at the European Policy Centre, an influential Brussels-based think tank and also Senior Advisor at BCW, a renowned international communication firm. She is Non-Resident Fellow at the Centre for Global Development, a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin) and a Solvay Fellow at the Vrije University Brussel (VUB).
Shada is also on the Brussels advisory committee of Women in International Security (WIIS) as well as the advisory committee of Migrant Women Connectors. She is a member of the informal Brussels-based “People of Colour” network.
In 2017, Shada was selected as one of the 20 most influential women in Brussels by the magazine Politico.
Shada has spent most of her professional life researching, writing and speaking about the European Union’s relations with Asia and AFrica as well as EU Development Policy, Trade Policy and Migration, building up a global reputation as a leading commentator, analyst and writer as well as a fresh and original thought-leader on the EU’s domestic and foreign policy agendas.
She is a regular speaker at international conferences and policy panels and is a frequent lecturer at academic symposia on geopolitics Asia. She is often interviewed by international media and writes regularly on Europe, Africa, Asia and Migration. Her articles appear, among other outlets, in the Guardian, Politico and the South China Morning Post as well as in academic journals. Her Frankly Speaking columns for Friends of Europe were widely read.
Shada is also a much sought-after moderator for international and European events, including online conferences and webinars. She has moderated online events organised by the UNDP, European External Action Service, the European Parliament as well as the Ombudsman. More details can be found on her website: https://www.shadaislam.com.
Wrap up of the two panels
By Shada Islam
Věra Jourová is currently Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency and deals with democracy, rule of law, disinformation and media pluralism. From 2014 to 2019, she served as EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. In 2014, before arriving to the European Commission, Ms Jourová held the position of Minister for Regional Development in the Czech Republic. Previous to this, from 2006 to 2013, she worked in her own company as an international consultant on European Union funding, and was also involved in consultancy activities in the Western Balkans relating to the European Union Accession. She holds a Degree in Law (Mgr.) and a Master's degree (Mgr.) in the Theory of Culture from the Charles University, Prague.
Wrap up of the two panels
By Shada Islam