ZEG Festival Amplifies Women’s Voices

From June 13-15, the heart of Tbilisi pulsed with powerful ideas, bold voices, and transformative dialogue as the ZEG Storytelling Festival 2025 unfolded across the city. Co-founded by Impact Hub Tbilisi and Coda Story, ZEG - meaning “the day after tomorrow” in Georgian - has become one of the region’s most influential cultural events, bringing together writers, thinkers, activists, and artists to explore the power of storytelling in shaping a more just, informed, and connected world.

This year, amid a backdrop of global turbulence and rising polarization, the festival leaned into themes of democracy, resistance, identity, and freedom. As part of this broader conversation, gender equality and women’s leadership took the spotlight through a dedicated track of sessions under the banner “Women in Power” - powered by UN Women. These conversations placed some of the most urgent issues of our time front and center: from global backlash against gender equality and gender disinformation to gender barriers in politics, journalism and the private sector.

One of the standout voices on the festival’s first day was Özlem Cekic, the first Muslim woman elected to the Danish Parliament. In a deeply personal and resonant talk, she shared her journey through political life, highlighting how inclusion, empathy, and dialogue are critical tools for more just and effective leadership. Her call to build bridges across difference set the tone for the days that followed-where the complexities of power, identity, and resistance were explored from multiple angles.

Picking up on these themes, a particularly moving session brought together Sara Hossain, a renowned human rights advocate from Bangladesh, and Ane Breivik, one of the youngest members of the Norwegian Parliament. In a cross-generational conversation, the two leaders reflected on the persistent, often invisible, barriers that continue to exclude women from political spaces. Their honest exchange underscored how deeply rooted structural inequalities remain, even in societies that are considered progressive.

This exploration of systemic resistance to equality deepened with a powerful dialogue by feminist scholar Dr. Erzsébet Barát who turned attention to the global rise of anti-gender movements. The message was clear: the hard-won gains for women’s rights are increasingly under coordinated assault and this assault goes hand in hand with democratic backsliding further reinforcing the idea that defending gender equality today is inseparable from defending democracy itself.

Closing the arc of these interlinked challenges, Julie Posetti and Nabeelah Shabbir from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) delivered a gripping, hands-on session on online violence against women journalists. Through real-world testimonies, they illustrated how digital platforms have become battlegrounds for silencing women-particularly those who dare to speak truth to power. Their session laid bare the urgent need to protect not only the individuals behind the bylines, but also the foundational principles of free speech, accountability, and democratic debate.

For many festivalgoers, these conversations brought critical issues into clearer focus. “The speakers gave me so much inspiration,” said 22-year-old Elene Gureshidze, who attended multiple sessions. “The informal, open nature of these talks makes the content more accessible for people like me. They make it feel like these issues are ours to act on - not just something experts debate behind closed doors.”

By showcasing stories of resistance, leadership, and solidarity, the “Women in Power” sessions served as both a mirror and a map - reflecting the realities women face while pointing toward the change still needed. The initiative aimed to amplify women’s voices and foster public engagement on gender equality through the unifying medium of storytelling.

The partnership between UN Women and the ZEG Storytelling Festival was supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Nordic Council of Ministers.