10 African spokeswomen who want progress, not promises.
We stand in solidarity with women on the front lines of the fight for gender equality. Over forty inspiring activists from fifteen African countries have co-signed a powerful letter to world leaders demanding progress, not promises for women everywhere. Meet 11 of the co-signers and sign their open letter.
Wadi Victoria Ben-Hiriki
At 17, Wadi founded the Wadi Ben-Hirki (WBH) Foundation, to support children living in poverty in getting an education. WBH focuses primarily on Northern Nigeria, where the high rates of illiteracy and poverty are worsened by the violent insurgency.
Dr. Joannie Marlene Bewa
Joannie works to build awareness of HIV/AIDS and gender equality in Benin. She founded the Young Beninese Leaders Association (YBLA), a youth and women-led organization, which has trained more than 3000 girls and women on sexual and reproductive health, leadership and entrepreneurship. Joannie is a global advocate for women’s health and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) working as a young leader with the United Nations.
Aya Chebbi
‘Pan-African feminist’, Aya became a world-renowned blogger during 2010/2011 Tunisia’s Revolution. She is passionate about empowering young people to be agents of positive change and is the founder of the Youth Programme of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring (Y-PHEM), Afrika Youth Movement (AYM), one of Africa’s largest Pan-African youth-led movements, and Afresist, a youth leadership program.
Chmba Ellen Chilemba
Chmba is the Founder and Executive Director at Tiwale, a youth-led organization supporting Malawian girls and women in getting an education, learning new skills and accessing money to start their own businesses. The organization has so far supported 250 women. Chmba founded Tiwale at 17, after becoming passionate about ending the vicious cycle of child marriage.
Fridah Githuku
Fridah is Executive Director of GROOTS Kenya, a national women-led grassroots movement that helps women gain visibility and power to create change in their own communities. GROOTS has supported 3,500 women-led groups across Kenya to achieve their own change. Fridah is especially passionate about the role of gender equality in land rights and has championed girls and women’s rights across health, gender-based violence, political participation, and financial independence among other areas.
Lola Omolola
Lola is the founder of FIN (Female IN), a private Facebook group that connects nearly 1.7 million women from across the world. The group serves as a safe space for women to discuss the struggles they face and connect with other women who share those experiences.
Melene Rossouw
Melene is an attorney who founded the “Women Lead Movement” (WLM) to educate, empower and inspire women to lead social change in their communities. WLM supports women to learn more about their constitutional and human rights, as well as how to publicly campaign and hold the government accountable for the promises they make to their citizens.
Samira Haruna Sanusi
Samira works to build awareness of Sickle Cell Anaemia and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) issues. She helped establish several organisations to help women living in the poorest countries, including the Samira Sanusi Sickle Cell Foundation (SSCF) and WAFSLI Nigeria (Water for Sustainable Living). Through her work, Samira has reached thousands of people to build awareness, and helps support hundreds of women with medical bills. Samira is also author of ‘S is for Survivor’, a memoir about her personal experiences with Sickle Cell Anaemia.
Togola Hawa Semega
Hawa is a journalist whose mission is to unite the young people of Mali through access to unbiased news and information on social issues. Through her website Kunafoni.com she provides a creative mix of journalism, rap and humour. Hawa helps young people to become more politically aware, while gaining the confidence to get involved in social change.
Naomi Tulay Solanke
Naomi is Founder and Executive Director of Community Health Initiative (CHI), a women-led NGO that provides reusable and affordable health products for women and girls so they can take control of their reproductive health. Naomi also turned her entrepreneurial skills to addressing the problem of women and girls lacking access to basic menstrual health provisions. She launched PAD4GIRLS, which trains women to produce locally sourced sanitary pads so they are more accessible for local school girls.
Source: one.org
