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A love-hate relationship with revolution: Sarah El Ashmawy at TEDxExeter

1,617 views · Published 29 April 2014 · 12:01 · Indexed 8 October 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2014 · Nonprofits & Activism

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This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Sarah El Ashmawy left Egypt one week before the popular uprising of 2011. Her realisation that she had become disconnected from her country led her to return and conduct conversations about responses to the revolution and its outcomes.

Sarah El Ashmawy is a young Egyptian woman. She has a BA in Political Sciences and International Law from the American University in Cairo, graduating in 2012 with High Honors. In 2009 Sarah volunteered for the Cairo based NGO 'Association for Health and Environmental Development', then in 2010 became part of the newly created Anti-Trafficking Unit at the Ministry of Family and Population.

In April 2012, she joined a team of researchers working on a chapter about the democratic transition in Egypt for a book by the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Regional Office in Cairo, in cooperation with the American University in Beirut. In September 2012 she became Minority Rights Group International's (MRG) Program Officer in Egypt, launching the implementation of an anti-religious discrimination program. Since September 2012 Sarah has worked with religious minorities in Egypt to build a strong network advocating for greater religious freedoms in Egypt. She has also worked as a research assistant for the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) on the upgrading of their Social Assessment Manual and as a research assistant for the UNDP working on a synopsis of their Governance Week Conference held in Cairo in November 2012.

She is currently a Masters' Student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, pursuing a degree in Violence, Conflict and Development, while she continues to be part of the Egypt programme team at MRG's London office helping to coordinate the Egypt programme liaising between the London team and the Cairo office.

At TEDxExeter 2014 our speakers and performers connected us with other worlds. Our talks exposed corruption in big business, shared effective approaches to tackling social inequality and gave a voice to those whose human rights are under threat. We explored the impact of fast changing technologies on all our lives. We journeyed through fire and forest to frozen landscapes. We were challenged to consider worlds of extremes, cutting edge controversies and risky opportunities.
Video Production Chromatrope (http://chromatrope.co.uk/)
Production Manager Andy Robertson (http://www.youtube.com/familygamertv)

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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