The voices in this episode are women who took part in the latest United Nations Ocean Conference. They are involved in law, insurance, policy, science, sustainability, and the arts.  They founded and run organisations, sit and advise on boards (or even paddle on them) and have dedicated their lives to the Ocean.

A major gender gap persists in ocean governance and finance:  women-led organisations and businesses in the blue economy receive less than one to 2% of major funding streams, and  women hold less than 20% of leadership positions in key international bodies. But they  constitute half of the workforce in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, and they play crucial roles in science, conservation, and restoration efforts.

 Because of this blue gender gap, I wanted to dedicate this part 2 of my new series '30 voices from the UN Ocean Conference' to women.

I am Louise Romain, sound artist, documentarist, anthropologist, and the podcast producer of Circle of Voices. This episode brings you unedited voice notes I received via Whatsapp.

If you enjoy what you hear, support Circle of Voices via my Patreon and become a monthly sponsor to contribute to my production and creative work into this world: https://www.patreon.com/c/CircleofVoices. Single direct donations are also possible here: https://buy.stripe.com/aFa4gB5zWbYzdDzc48fbq00. And share the episode with a friend you think might find this valuable!

The episode features:

* Cecilia Sevillano, Founder of Ocean Intelligence Services, Colombia/Sweden

* Antoinette Vermilye, Co-founder of Gallifrey Foundation, UK/Switzerland

* Michaela Girvan, Co-founder the Ocean Rights Coalition, UK

* Andrea Herrera, Shark master student from Okeanos Marine research institute, Regional Coordinator for ECOP Early Career Ocean Professional Central America, Portugal

* Melanie Cueff - Scientific officer of the Global Seaweed Coalition, France

* Clara Botto - The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering, Brasil

* Amber Nuttal - Co-chair of the Bahamas Reef Educational Foundation, Board member of the Blue Marine Foundation, Co-Founder Extreme Hang Out, The Bahamas/UK

* Marie Le Chevallier {OrKatz} - Dj, Ocean Artivist - Founder of ORKASEA

* Sabrina André - Legal expert on law of the sea, Board member of Women for Sea, France

* Linzi Hawkin - Co-founder at Protect Blue, UK

//Credits// Music by Shame Mckenna 'Surfacing' via Uppbeat. Sounds: Whales in the Rain by listeningtowhales -- https://freesound.org/s/322539/; Dolphin in Caribbean Sea (Mexico) by felix.blume -- https://freesound.org/s/161691/; and various phone ring tones by sapatac, genviou, and Aldergrove Studios.

Circle of Voices is a podcast produced by Louise Romain. Find out more about her work: https://tuneintotheworld.com/