Make Every Woman Count - Promoting the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Africa
"To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it"
Mother Theresa
Our Monthly Interview
In the interview of the month MEWC aims to ask questions where the respondent can elaborate on issues regarding women’s present situation in Africa. The interview of the month also gives room for individuals who are doing important and varying work for women’s rights in Africa to express their ideas and answers to some of the pressing current issues.
At MEWC we believe that it is important to listen to different aspects and provide room for discussion, and so we post the interview on our home page to encourage debate. But perhaps most importantly, we strive to make the interview of the month a space where women who might otherwise not be heard, share their views.
Our Interview of the Month with Tola Onigbanjo
Tola Onigbanjo is one half of the dynamic founding duo 'Women4Africa'. She is a project manager, entertainment journalist, compere and author. She is a visionary leader, women's champion and dedicated wife and mother. She has an unusual ability to foster, develop and nurture key inter-personal relations. Tola is a qualified project manager, experienced mentor and a down to earth communicator.
Our Interview of the Month with Elizabeth Bintliff
Elizabeth Bintliff is the Vice President of AfricaPrograms at Heifer Project International, where she has worked since 2000. From her base in Little Rock, Arkansas she leads Heifer’s program in Africa, managing a portfolio in over 12 countries.
Our Interview of the Month with Aida Opoku-Mensah
Aida Opoku-Mensah is the Director of ICTs, Science and Technology Division of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), based in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Through the work of the division she manages sections/programmes in library/knowledge/information services, ICTs, geospatial technology and innovation for Africa's development. Consequently she's led and implemented impressive initiatives
Our Interview of the Month: 'Give African Women a Voice,'
In 2010 the African Union launched a decade-long initiative to promote women's empowerment and put female rights at the heart of development in the billion-strong continent.Our Interview of the Month with Leah Chatta-Chipepa
My name is Leah Chatta-Chipepa, and I like to tell people that I was born in Zambia and made in Africa. I am a true Pan- African at heart as attested by my work across the continent. I am happily married with three grown children and two adorable grandsons. I am currently working with Akina Mama wa Afrika in Kampala, Uganda where I am the Executive Director for the organization since September 2011. Prior to this, I had worked with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) from 2005 - January 2011.
Our Interview of the Month with Rainatou Sow
Rai is a resilient advocate for a peaceful and equitable world. Since the age of 12, she have been working and advocating to promote African women and girls rights. Rai is the Founder & Executive Director of Make Every Woman Couunt (MEWC), a young African woman led organisation based in UK.
Our Interview of the Month with Betty Makoni
Betty Makoni (BA Gen, BA Special Hons) is CNN Hero 2009 for Protecting the Powerless, where she was honoured by Nicole Kidman. She has 28 global awards for innovation, commitment and passion for her work to protect over 300,000 girls in Zimbabwe. United Nations Red Ribbon award honoured Betty Makoni and Girl Child Network as having the most innovative strategy for gender equality. Betty Makoni is an Ashoka Fellow and singled out as one of the investors in poor and marginalised women and girls deserving of this life honour as a fellow.News Week named Betty as one of the 150 women who shake the world, alongside US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Our Interview of the Month with Lindy Wafula
Lindy Wafula is the Founder and Executive Director of Project Africa – a nonprofit organization established in Kenya to promote gender equality and empowerment of women. She is also a social entrepreneur and community organizer who is a passionate advocate for the advancement of women in leadership and decision making position in every social, economic and political spheres of life.
Our Interview of the Month with Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström became the first-ever Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict on 2 February 2010. Ms. Wallström has been a long-time advocate of the rights and needs of women throughout her political career -- first as Swedish Minister and later as Environment Commissioner and Vice-President of the European Commission. Her mandate is global and multifaceted, focused overall on leading and coordinating efforts to end conflict-related sexual violence against women and children. Previous landmarks in her career include ministerial appointments in Sweden, senior positions in the non-governmental sector and the European Commission. Throughout all her work, she has been a consistent and vocal advocate for the rights of women.
Our Interview of the Month with Tabitha Njoroge
Profiled as one of the youngest directors in the Kenyan civil society, Tabitha Njoroge is the Chief Executive Officer of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Kenya. Tabitha’s passion for women rights and emancipation began during her days of undergraduate studies while serving as a student leader in the students’ council (SONU) and in the Women Students Welfare Association (WOSWA) where she served as the Chairperson.
Our Interview of the Month with Alice Muhirwa
Alice Muhirwa is a 31 old-years and mother of 2. She holds a Bacc degree in Economics from the independent university of kigali. She also acquired a human rights certificate in 2002 from the Christian Faith International (CFI) and has over 5 years of experience working with local organizations. She has been very active with women’s student association acting as Gender promoter , with a focus on promoting peace, gender equality and advocacy for women’s rights. Alice went into politics in 2010, she is currently the National treasurer of a yet registered opposition political party named FDU-inkingi .
Interview of the Month with Chantal Binwaassumani
Chantal Binwaassumani is a 30 years-old human rights activist from DR Congo, she is married with four kids. Chantal hold a degre in rural development, she has been working with The Association des femmes pour la Promotion et le Développement Endogène is a Congolese (AFPDE) since 2005 as the project coordinator. AFPDE is a Congolese feminine organization located at South Kivu Province in DR CONGO. The Association des femmes pour la Promotion et le Développement Endogène is a Congolese (AFPDE) was our highlight of the month in January .
Our Interview of the Month with Mariam: A Victim of FGM/C
Mariam (not her real name) is from West Africa, she is among the million of women who have undergo FGM/C in Africa. In this International Day against Female Genitale Mutilation, Mariam has decided to share her story with us in the hope that it will stop people from perfroming this horrible practice on young African women. The 6th Feb. has been designated by the United Nations to raise awareness amongst the general public about this traditional practice which severely violates the human rights of women and girls.
Interview of the Month with Naana Otoo-Oyortey
Naana Otoo-Oyortey is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD), an African Diaspora women’s support and campaign organisation working in the UK and Africa on female genital mutilation, child marriage and obstetric fistula.
Interview of the Month with Michel Bachelet
Source: Say N0 - United To End Violence Aaginst WomenFormer Chilean President, Ms. Michelle Bachelet is the first Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, which was established on 2 July 2010 by the UN General Assembly. Ms. Bachelet most recently served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010.
Our Interview of the Month with Wangari Maatai
Source: The Green Belt MovementWangari Muta Maathai (1st April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan environmental and political activist environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
Our Interview of the Month with Marie-Louise Pambu on the Situation of Widows in the DRC
Marie-Louise Pambu is a 60 years old Congolese widow, mother of four children; a former high school geography and history teacher, currently Social and Human right activist.Our August Interview with Khadiga Hussein
Khadiga Hussein is a 71 year old Sudanese -women's rights and community development activist, having entered the humanitarian field in 1960. Khadiga is the founder of Sudanese Mothers for Peace, a women’s organisation that works for peace in Sudan. In her early career Khadiga travelled to Egypt to undertake research at a UNESCO centre. She graduated as a specialist in community development as well as producing research on FGM, which was subsequently published in three different languages
Our July Interview with Faiza Jama Mohamed
Faiza Jama Mohamed holds a Masters in Business Administration from the California State University at Fresno. She also acquired a human rights diploma in 1998 from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at The Hague, The Netherlands, and has over 20 years of experience working with international organizations.
Our June Interview with Diakhoumba Gassama
Diakhoumba Gassama is an activist who has worked extensively and passionately in defending women’s rights in Africa and beyond. Since November 2010, Diakhoumba is the Special Assistant to the Director for Gender at UNDP Bureau for Development Policy, based in New York, USA. Before then, she was working for UNIFEM as the African Coordinator in the Secretariat of the African-Spanish Women’s Network for a Better World based in Las Palmas, SpainOur May Interview with Alice Ukoko
Alice Ukoko is a human right defender who has devoted her entire active life since 1994 to the campaign to end human rights abuses in Nigeria and to being the “voice” for African women and their families. Alice Ukoko is the founder of Women of Africa (WOA), which was founded in September 1994 to provide a platform for African women to lobby and engage in the political effortsMore Articles...
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