My Voice My Choice
Friday, 24 April
20:15 – 20:50
Room: Salle de Guichets
Join us for a dynamic spotlight conversation with Nika Kovač, tracing the journey of the My Voice My Choice campaign – from its initial spark to a powerful pan-European mobilisation. Revisiting key milestones, visuals, and campaign footage alongside an in-depth one-on-one conversation with its leader, this session will unpack how a bold idea evolved into a movement that gathered over one million signatures and helped transform the European agenda on abortion rights.
Speaker
Nika Kovač, My Voice My Choice
Nika Kovač is the founding director of the Institute 8th of March, a movement-building organization that uses storytelling and advocacy to confront gender and economic inequalities across Slovenia. Commemorating International Women’s Day, which is celebrated annually on March 8th, the organisation works to break the silence around sexual violence by gathering testimonials and data on issues of rape, abortion, and sexual assault across the country, as well us brings juistice nationwide with numerous campaigns. She has led three national referendum campaigns and changed 15 laws in Slovenia. Right now she’s leading a pan-European campaign My Voice, My Choice advocating for safe and accessible abortion in Europe using the mechanism of European Citizens’ Initiative. The campaign successfully collected more than 1 million signatures for the cause and mobilised thousands of people accross Europe. The initiative was received a positive response from the European Commission granting abortion access to millions of women in Europe. Nika is also the executive director of the Democracy Hub, an international organisation collecting innovative campaign practices and educating hundreds of activists worldwide. She won numerous awards, among them Slovenian woman of the year and Personality of the year, she was an Obama scholar and Obama leader leader, as well as the Vital Voices Global Leadership honoree.
Moderator: Alice Hubbard, Head of Network Development Alice
Alice Hubbard is Head of Network Development at the Green European Foundation (GEF), where she oversees GEF’s network and stakeholder relations, as well as key flagship initiatives such as the European Green Academy and the Greenhouse Activist Training. She previously served as Secretary General of the Global Young Greens and on the Executive Committee of the Green Party of England and Wales. She is also a former Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence.
