The Conversation

Amatalalim Alsoswa was Yemen's first female minister before becoming the country's first woman Ambassador. Her mission to the Netherlands began serenely in 2000 but, she tells us, she had to deal with a dramatic change of attitudes towards Yemen after the September 11 attacks the following year. Amat's recipe for success is a mixture of outspokenness and openness - a combination which helped her cope with a fatwa issued against her when she was seen on television without a headscarf (it had slipped onto her shoulders). This daughter of a religious judge says she owes her determination to her father and mother, who never worked herself, but encouraged Amat all the way to the top. Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury is the new Finnish Ambassador to three West African countries. "Nigeria was top of my list... I can't think of a more interesting place" she says. Ebola, the economy and the security situation dominate her concerns in the region but she welcomes the challenge alongside the opportunity to promote Finland's interests there. This is Pirjo's first posting at ambassador level but as a career diplomat she knows that one advantage of being a woman in a male-dominated field is that you are remembered, and the higher up the ladder you go, the more free you are to be yourself, even in the world of diplomacy.

Ericka Huggins attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and decided then to devote herself to social action. She was 19 when she became a leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s. In its own words the Party wanted "the power to determine the destiny of the Black and oppressed communities." As well as the political struggle Ericka had to cope with becoming a widow and the lone parent of a 3-week-old baby when her husband, also a Black Panther Party leader, was killed. Her own imprisonment led her to the practice of meditation which is still very much part of her life. Now profressor Ericka Huggins teaches sociology at Merritt and Laney Community Colleges in Oakland California. Nomboniso Gasa's experiences of Apartheid gave her a political consciousness from early childhood and at the age of 14 she was arrested and detained for the first of many times. As a result of living in a segregated society she says "the notion of being non-human stayed with me for a long time". She joined the ANC's underground structure in the 1980s and her work was mainly as a runner between the homelands and the ANC guerrilla fighters, including crossing into Lesotho, disguised as a boy in search of her father. Now based in Johannesburg, Nomboniso is a researcher and analyst on Gender, Politics and Cultural Issues and talks about coping with the aftermath of the violent episodes in her life through dance, gardening and yoga.(Photo: Activists Ericka Huggins (left) and Nomboniso Gasa. Ericka Huggins Photo Credit: Peggy Moore)

As the chair of one of South Africa's largest agencies, Ogilvy and Mather, Nunu Ntshingila is among the highest ranking women in world advertising. Born in Soweto in the 1960s, she learned her trade under Apartheid, when both the working environment and the marketplace were racially divided. Later she had the job of marketing the 'new South Africa' as a tourist destination and has since overseen campaigns for some of the world's biggest brands. Nunu says she moved "from the struggle between black and white to the gender struggle" and talks about her limited ability to change the way black women are portrayed in advertising. Vasudha Narayanan is the executive creative director at the Lowe Lintas agency in India. Based in Mumbai she says advertising is not an easy job - especially for women - as the unconventional working hours and frequent parties can raise eyebrows in conservative society. Vasudha says she is conscious about the influence her adverts have on society. She says "It's men who need to change their attitudes - we try and encourage men to behave better"(Photo: Advertising executives Nunu Ntshingila (left) and Vasudha Narayanan)

What is the universe made of? Is there life on Mars? And how do you get more women interested in science? These are the big questions which preoccupy today's guests. Minal Rohit is a systems engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation, currently working on India's Mars mission, and Dr Tara Shears is a particle physicist who works for the European organisation for nuclear research, known as CERN. They discuss what it's like to be involved in ground-breaking experiments and how a desire to understand the universe drew them to science in the first place.Picture: Minal Rohit and Dr Tara Shears

Dr Ngozi Kennedy works as a health specialist for UNICEF which is one of the organisations supporting the Government's response to Ebola in Sierra Leone. From her home city of Freetown she talks about its impact on women, children and adolescents and how just as her workload increased, her children have to be at home, bored and frustrated, as a result of the school closures. Sierra Leone-born Fredanna M'Cormack-McGough is professor of Public Health at Coastal Carolina University. She was in Sierra Leone conducting research on the health system when the first Ebola case was recorded in May. On her return to America after three months, she had to allay the fears of her own community about whether she was harbouring the virus - in effect she became a case study for the course she teaches.Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between both women involved in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. From a US and Sierra Leonean perspective, these public health experts compare their experiences in dealing with the spread of the virus and discuss how it has impacted their personal lives in surprising ways. (Picture: Dr Fredanna M'Cormack-McGough (left) and Dr Ngozi Kennedy)

A triathlon is a three-part sport that requires competitors to swim, cycle and run. This week we speak to two triathletes who are at opposite ends of their careers. Paula Newby-Fraser seemed unbeatable in the 1980s and 1990s, and was nicknamed the 'Queen of Kona', home to the ultra-triathlon the Ironman, and Shirin Gerami is the first female triathlete to represent Iran in a world championship. Paula shares her advice and experience with Shirin. Paula Newby-Fraser grew up in South Africa doing sport from the age of five. Paula reveals that the triathlon start-line seemed to be the only place that was not segregated by race or gender and she also explains why she had to give up her South African citizenship to compete internationally. Shirin Gerami is relatively new to the triathlon scene, but has made an impact. She battled through red-tape with the Iranian authorities to get permission to compete under her country's flag, and won. Shirin's event kit was a major issue as it had to comply with the rules in Iran that women must be covered. She came up with a suitable design, which has inspired other aspiring female triathletes. (Photo: Shirin Gerami and Paula Newby-Fraser)

Bangladeshi clothing manufacturer Rubana Huq, who employs over 5000 women in eight factories, talks to British retailer Kim Winser who has been responsible for some major fashion brands.What do two women leaders in the global fashion industry have to say to each other? From how they got into the world of fashion to factory-floor culture and leadership, Bangladeshi factory boss Rubana Huq and British fashion retailer Kim Winser compare their experiences. Kim Winser has been described as one of Europe's most successful businesswomen. She spent 20 years with the British retailer Marks and Spencer, where a conversation with her boss in the elevator led to an interview to become the first woman in the company's commercial field and then its youngest divisional director. Kim is also credited with breathing life back into major fashion brands such as Pringle of Scotland and Aquascutum. She now runs her own fashion label called Winser London. Rubana Huq is a prize-winning poet and the "accidental" Managing Director of the Mohammadi Group. Her company owns eight factories and employs 9000 men and women making garments for export. She is among only a handful of female entrepreneurs in the clothing trade in Bangladesh and wants to see more women leading change in the industry as it recovers from the tragedy of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013. (Picture: Rubana Huq (left); Kim Winser)

Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between two explorers who both grew up in the mountains - Sarah Marquis in Switzerland's Jura mountains and Reena Dharmshaktu in the foothills of the Himalayas. Both women felt the pull of the outdoors from an early age and knew they couldn't be confined to an office. Sarah Marquis recently walked 10,000 miles in three years from Siberia to the Australian outback. She is also one of this year's winners of the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Awards.Reena Dharmshaktu was the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole and is also a mountaineer and outdoors instructor. Sarah and Reena discuss their adventures, how they overcome physical and mental challenges and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. (Photo: Sarah Marquis and Reena Dharmshaktu, courtesy of Sarah and Reena)

Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between one of Saudi Arabia's only female comedians and a Kenyan comic who performs her stand-up routine in the UK. Both love to laugh and to make people laugh. Hatoon Kadi took up comedy when she got bored of her office job. At the time she says the internet in Saudi Arabia was booming with comedy shows, but they were all fronted by men, so she decided to fill a gap in the market. Now Hatoon, and her comedy alter ego 'Noon al-Niswa', have attracted millions of fans across the region with sketches about everyday life for women in the Kingdom. It's not what you might think.Njambi McGrath grew up in Kenya. When she moved to the UK she was shocked at negative depictions of Africa and set herself the mission to try and change perceptions. Africa does have 'hunger, disease and war', Njambi says, but there is fun, laughter and happiness there too. As well as hearing each other's comedy sketches, Hatoon and Njambi talk about overturning western stereotypes of their homelands through humour, the art of developing a thick skin against critics, and how they find their material.(Picture: Hatoon Kadi (L) and Njambi McGrath)

Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between Judge Khalida Rachid Khan, Pakistan's first woman judge, and Justice Mandisa Maya, the first black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa.Judge Khalida Rachid Khan was appointed to the bench in Peshawar in 1974, a place still known for its conservative values. She describes how people would try to get into court to witness the 'spectacle' of a woman judge and how she dealt with male lawyers refusing to appear before her. After rising through the ranks of the judiciary in Pakistan she is now presiding over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in The Hague where hearing the disturbing testimonies of genocide survivors has given her sleepless nights but also great job satisfaction. Justice Mandisa Maya sits in the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa. She was the first black African woman to be appointed to that court, one of the highest in the country. On her first day Mandisa was turned away from the main judges' entrance because staff there found it unbelievable that she could hold such a position. The judges talk about switching off from the job and which programmes they avoid on television to stay sane!(Photo: L - R, chief high court Judge Helen Winkelmann, justice Ellen France, chief justice Dame Sian Elias, high court manager Jane Penney arrive for the Opening of Parliament, New Zealand. Credit: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)