Maria Jonas was born in 1940 and studied languages. She has worked for  the Social Democratic Party of Austria; as General Secretary of Socialist International Women, London; at a daily paper in Vienna for ten years. Retired since 1996, she works with women’s issues, migrants, and HIV/AIDS issues. From 1996 – 1999 she was a member of the Board of Trustees of INSTRAW and participated in the Austrian government delegation to UN CSW from 1997 – 2000.