Activist against gender-based violence (GBV) and actor Jane Mpholo has received an invitation to this year’s symposium on GBV prevention in Southern Africa. This will be held in Pretoria on Thursday, 22 August, and Friday. In attendance will be representatives, activists, scholars, policymakers and community leaders.

Mpholo has been invited to deliver the keynote address – on art as a tool to curb the scourge of GBV in Southern Africa – owing to activism and advocacy through her self-titled entity, Jane Mpholo Pty Ltd. She engages in a multi-disciplinary approach focusing on theatre, performing arts, film, and site-specific art to tackle GBV and has received recognition for using this as an instrument to curb GBV.

“They asked that I be part of the symposium, and I immediately said yes. It was a no-brainer. This is the biggest social impact opportunity I have ever come across, and to be held so highly as to do the keynote address was beyond my wildest dreams,” says Mpholo.

This symposium is organised by Africa Legal Aid (Afla) and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation – in partnership with the United Nations Women, the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of the Netherlands and the Ford Foundation.