CURRICULUM VITAE: THANDI MODISE Current positions • Speaker to the North West Provincial Legislature • Member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress • Member of the Board of llitha La Bathu • Member of SAWID (Africa Peace Desk) • Member of the Board of International Security Studies • Councillor of the Robben Island Museum, a seat for political debates and a site for reconciliation • Member of the Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace Policy Commission Academic qualifications • BComm degree in Industrial Psychology and Economics • Special Leadership Course (University of Jordan, USA) • Master’s in economics (current study) • Certificates of a Trainer in Military Training • Certificates in Gender Studies Career / positions / other activities • Modise’s political activity began in 1976 when, as a student, she was jailed for ten years for fighting the apartheid regime. • Elected chair of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and the Joint Standing Committee on Defence in South Africa’s Parliament (1998–2004). • She has led the charge for a more moral policy on arms sales, strongly asserting Parliament’s oversight role, which includes the power to approve or veto pending arms exports. • A member of the African National Congress Women’s Executive Committee since 1994, she held the post of deputy president until 2002. • She also chaired the Ad Hoc Committee for the Ratification of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women at South Africa’s National Assembly. • Her work has helped South African women secure a place in the decision- making process to address the challenges of peace building, economic growth, and political stability. • ANC Women’s League Deputy President – 1994–2004 • ANC Women’s League President for 2004 Thandi Modise’s peace-building activities include: • Participating in peace missions to unstable regions such as East Timor, Nigeria and Rwanda • Contributing to international conferences, highlighting women’s roles in negotiations and conflict resolution • Campaigning for the adoption and implementation of affirmative action programs to combat the legacy of past gender and race discrimination in South Africa • Leading debates in the National Assembly on investigations into South Africa’s controversial multi-billion-rand arms deal with Yemen • Leading South Africa’s parliamentary fact-finding mission to the Middle East, which recommended South Africa’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Papers presented • Conceptualising moral regeneration with specific reference to sexual harassment • The role of NGOs in the struggle against HIV/AIDS amongst women in South Africa • The role of gender in the DDR in Sudan • Sustaining democracy in post-apartheid South Africa • The effects of women’s involvement in conflict resolution processes • Elements of post-conflict recovery and reconstruction • Engineering security sector reform • Civil-military relations • Parliamentary oversight over SANDF 1994-2004 • Women’s contribution to peace • NEPAD: women in SA struggle for liberation .