Women Activists

"I hope to help them find strength in their voices while raising awareness on their issues and work on the international stage"

"Most organizations that focus on empowering and gaining the equal rights of women often neglect the voices of African women themselves"

"Today, African women are beginning to break the political glass ceiling in many countries and finding their way in roles that was traditionally occupied by men. We now have two African women out of 54 head of state and the chair of the African Union is a woman"

"I wanted to do something that could have a positive impact on African women’s and girls’ lives – and the African Women’s Decade was the perfect opportunity"

"Through Make Every Woman Count, my aim is to provide a spectrum of platforms and tools for African women, grassroots, activists, international organisations and women rights groups. I feel that what has been missing from the African women’s movement is a space, a voice that comes directly from African women."

"African Governments needs to be accountable, and take responsibility in keeping their promises. We need to push African governments to work harder on women issues; those who have not ratified the various legal framework to ratify, those who have already ratified to put money aside for implementation with concrete action plans such as clear gender budgeting as well as allocating more funding for food security, human security and better education/health care for sustainable development."

"I guess people have come to realise that there is more to Africa than starving people, raped women, war, child soldier,… whatever the reason, we need to remember that we cannot rely on others to develop the continent"

"Sinknesh is not a woman of excuses; under her leadership and a great team effort, the mining industry is growing significantly with major involvement of the private sector."

"We want to become the backbone of the economy."

"Sinknesh is a great role model to many young women of our nation and AWiB thanks her for sharing her story."

"This is a battle of women around the world—because you may not sound like me, you may not look like me, but what they are trying to do to our bodies is the same everywhere."

"I can’t tell you the amount of times in a day that I hear that I’m going to hell."

"They’re denying a lot of the pain that women and girls are going through, and just calling it Western influence."

"She is strong in delegation and supporting others realize their dreams."

"These issues are personal to me, they’re part of my life history. We won’t have equality until girls can grow up with control over their own bodies and futures."

"I am proud to join UN Women in their fight for the rights of women and girls all over Africa. I want to see the day when no parent makes a decision that will change and limit their daughters’ lives. The girls of Africa and worldwide need to know that their future is bigger than they imagine."

"I remember feeling silenced and alone,the pain was almost too much to bear."

"It was important to lead an organization that was by people like us, who have lived experience and know how to tackle these issues in a respectful manner."

"She leads her life with a purpose and her purpose is to see this country prosper. Her purpose is to work to the best of her ability to support the nation’s economic agenda succeed."

"While the rights of women were instilled in me at a very young age, my passion was inspired by 10 young girls I used to give evening classes in my neighbourhood whose parents couldn’t afford to send them to school. I remember going to school and seeing young girls not much younger than myself staying at home to work or help their families. I just could not understand why they were not able to go to school, and I just couldn’t accept it. I decided if they are not able to go to school, I would teach them. So, I set up evening classes to teach the children basic reading and writing skills. I am proud to say that all of these young women have now gone through full education including University. Their stories touched me enormously and motivated me to be member of the Guinean Children Parliament where I advocated for the rights of girls to education and also later on to do a Master of International so that I would be better prepared to assist women and girls. I would say this is when the passion to help others was birthed."

"Where this terrible dogma does not embitter happiness, it corrupts character. Where people believe with a realized belief, their whole lives must be overshadowed with its stupendous horror; where they only pretend to believe, the extent of their hypocrisy can be measured only by their pretence."

"In September 2009, while demonstrating against the regime in Guinea, women were raped and sexually abused in the capital – Conakry. This horrible event hunts my life every single day. There was a young woman who was at her 3rd year at the University among the victims, she was raped and sexually abused. When I saw a picture of her being dragged half naked by two soldiers, I couldn’t sleep for nights. At that point, I decided that I couldn’t keep going on with my life knowing what has just happened without taking actions. That young woman could have been me and her crime was just to ask for democracy and peace."

"Eritrean Women Poets Lifting Post-War Voices,By SIOBHAN BENET, retrieved on 22, 2001"

"We hope to bring Ms. Kidane to the United States in the very near future.”“Kidane is a poet with a gift. And in Eritrea we honor our poets and our poetry. And we honor the struggle for freedom."

"Kidane is a poet with a gift. And in Eritrea we honor our poets and our poetry. And we honor the struggle for freedom."

"I was born in the heart of Asmara during the Dergue era. I grew up in a neighbourhood that leaned on Abashawul, facing Edaga Hamus. Godena Ra'esi BeraKi BeKit, as it was called then, is what comes to mind when I think of my old neighbourhood. Basically, I was born in house# 62 and raised in house# 26."

"My poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think."

"Eritrea’s Saba Kidane: Write Saba Write!,By ALEWANA (ኣለዋና!), retrieved on 16 August 2019"

"Many come out of past experiences."

"We are distressed that Saba Kidane could not participate in the poetry reading cabaret, said Noreen Tommassi"

"Over the years I became that incomplete Saba as many things in my life fell apart. People went missing one by one and the constellation of artists and writers vanished right from under my nose. You see, to do anything in our culture one needs a group of companions - we do not do things alone. One needs someone to eat with; one feels more comfortable when surrounded by friends and family; one needs a literary companion to work with. That disappeared from my world.."

"“Siham Sergiwa’s case shows that no one, even a well-known politician, is safe in Libya."

"Siham Sergiwa has not been heard from since the terrifying night she was taken away from her family. Her fate is a chilling reminder of the consequences of peaceful criticism in today’s Libya"

"“We are urging the LNA to put an end to the anguish of Siham Sergiwa’s family and immediately reveal her fate and whereabouts. Abductions and enforced disappearances have become a chilling hallmark of the conflict in Libya, with civilians left at the mercy of militias and armed groups.”"

"Amal was a civil society activist and a member of various social and political initiatives. She assisted the families of martyrs and the disappeared, and was a founding member of a youth initiative called ‘’Youth of Benghazi Libya”. In the 2014 parliamentary elections, Amal was elected to the House of Representatives with more than 14,000 votes (the highest number of votes anyone received in the 2014 elections)."

"Amal was a prominent politician and parliamentarian in Libya."

"Amal will remain in the memories of many as a woman politician working to ensure a better future in one the most difficult and conflict-ridden contexts in the region."

"The self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) must reveal the fate and whereabouts of Siham Sergiwa, a Libyan politician and women’s rights defender who was violently abducted from her home one year ago today, Amnesty International said."

"“it feels great”"

"“We need to protect this new constitution, otherwise it will be useless. Look at the countries around us, like Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia. All these countries have constitutions, and failed. Libya still needs a lot of education on this issue. We need knowledge in order to be able to support and protect the constitution. This education needs to start from a very young age,”"

"She went back to her home country to be with her family and got involved in post-revolution social work, and more recently promoting female participation in the electoral process."

"All in all they are mediocre and colourless, except of course Pattakos. He is a mediocre man who acts like a clown."

"They cannot tell me how to run my newspapers any more than I can tell them how to run their tanks."

"Silence was her loudest voice."

"Despite the debilitating legacies of slavery and colonialism that continue to hold our continent and perpetuate global geopolitical and economic imbalances, I think Africa will inevitably rise like those many heads of the hydra whereby you strike one and another one that is twice as strong emerges."

"I believe in a just a fair world, where I am not subservient to another because we differ in color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age."

"Definitely. I think African futurism and the interdisciplinary genre and movement hold a lot of promise for the imaginaries of our people."

"Our feminism is not qualified by the "Buts ,Ifs Or However" ..You are either a feminist or you are not."

"Now, never underestimate the power of the mind. What African futurism does is harness that power into action. It empowers us to craft the future that we want."

"Africa will inevitably rise like those many heads of the hydra, but first it needs a decolonial break from the tether that ties its economies to the global capitalist market."