Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, First Lady to the President of the independent nation of East Timor, is to give this year’s Clare Hall Ashby lecture.

Kirsty will talk about her work with the Alola Foundation at Robinson College on 4 May at 6pm. She is the founder and head of the Alola Foundation, which was established in 2001 to raise awareness of, and campaign against, the sexual and gender-based violence inflicted on women in East Timor.

Her Ashby lecture is entitled “From Alola to Helena: A Tribute to the Women and children of East Timor 1999-2005” and will focus on the role of women in the period of armed conflict and upheaval in East Timor up to 1999. She will look at the experience of women survivors of gender-based violence, and highlight some of the problems confronting women and children in peacetime in today's Timor-Leste.

Clare Hall has hosted the Ashby Lectures since 1978. Previous speakers include Professor Yasuaki Onuma, Professor Guy Sorman, Aiping Mu, and Isabel Allende.

Kirsty Sword-Gusmao will also open an exhibition of her husband’s photographs entitled 'A tour of Timor-Leste with Xanana Gusmao' on Tuesday 3 May at 6pm at Clare Hall. All are welcome and the exhibition will remain open till Friday 6 May.

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