Opening remarks from Mahnaz Afkhami, and an introduction to the fourth panel by chair, Carl Gershman, begin the panel on themes of participatory leadership and democratic governance. Gershman, of the National Endowment for Democracy, describes the vision of NED and the World Movement for Democracy. He discusses democracy as having protective function.

Najma Heptullah, founder and president of Parliamentarians Forum for Human Development and Indian MP, speaks on increasing women's participation in political decision making.

Aruna Rao, coordinator for Gender@work (an Indian women's rights NGO), outlines institutional strategies in pursuit of human security/women's rights.

Mishka Mojabber Mourani, Senior Vice President of International College in Lebanon, discusses the theory and practice behind WLP's leadership training model.

Kumi Naidoo of CIVICUS, speaks about elections without democracy. 

Clash or Consensus? Gender and Human Security in a Globalized World was a conference convened by Women's Learning Partnership (WLP) and sponsored by the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at John Hopkins University to discuss improving human security through improving human rights in the Global South.