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Hadja Idrissa Bah

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Hadja Idrissa Bah
Bah in 2019
Born (1999-08-23) August 23, 1999 (age 25)
Conakry, Guinea
CitizenshipGuinea
Alma materUniversity of General Lansana Conté
OccupationActivist
OrganizationGuinea Girl Leaders Club

Hadja Idrissa Bah, also Hadja Idy (born 23 August 1999) is a child's rights and women's rights activist from Guinea, who was elected President of the Guinean Children's Parliament in 2016. She has advised President Emmanuel Macron on women's issues.

Biography

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Bah was born on 23 August 1999. Her parents, a shopkeeper and a cleaner, supported her wish to complete her secondary studies at the Saint Georges High School in Conakry.[1] She studied political science for a year at the University of General Lansana Conté (fr), before enrolling in the law faculty at the Sorbonne University Association.

Activism

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In 2016, Bah was elected President of the Guinean Children's Parliament. As President, she demanded that Guinean decision-makers respect children's rights: "The rights of the Guinean child are in an alarming situation, because they are neglected."[2] She is particularly involved in the fight against female genital mutilation, deploring on this subject that "false religious beliefs weigh more than the law".[3] During her presidency she was outspoken on many issues, including: against teen marriage;[4] sexual and domestic violence;[3] rape;[citation needed] the stigma against female sexuality.[5] Bah was first elected to the parliament aged 13.[6]

In 2016, she founded the Guinea Girl Leaders Club, which recognises the particular burdens that girls and young women face in Guinean society.[3] The organisation seeks to educate young women who might be tempted to marry at a very young age to think twice before agreeing.[7] The group discourages parents who are encouraging their daughters to marry at a young age.[8] It also leads campaigns against female genital mutilation, with a particular focus on the school summer holidays — a time at which many young women are mutilated.[9]

In 2019, Bah was selected as one of fifty-seven young French-speaking people from around the world who congregated for the LabCitoyen programme to discuss women's rights and equality.[10] On 2 March 2020 she was invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss women's rights, along with the Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Syrian novelist Samar Yazbek and the former Swedish foreign minister and European commissioner Margot Wallström and other notable women's rights activists.[11][12][13]

Awards

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  • Guinea Girl Leaders Club, 2019 at the J Awards
    Guinean Senate: Women's Rights Delegation Award (2019).[14]
  • The J Awards (fr): Super Award (2019).[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ "Le respect du droit des enfants :un combat de Idrissa Bah présidente du parlement des enfants de Guinée". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-05. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  2. ^ "VIDEO: portrait of Hadja Idrissa Bah, a young Guinean who fights against underage marriage". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  3. ^ a b c "HADJA IDRISSA BAH, SON COMBAT POUR LES DROITS DES JEUNES GUINÉENNES !". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-09. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  4. ^ "Des ados contre le mariage précoce". BBC News Afrique (in French). 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  5. ^ Chabo, Elena (2019-11-26). "Inspiring young activists speaking up around the world". Stylist. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  6. ^ "Hadja Idrissa Bah, une jeunesse contre les violences faites aux femmes". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  7. ^ Peyton, Nellie (2017-10-27). "Teenage girls step in to stop child marriages in West Africa". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  8. ^ "These Teen Girls Are Stopping Child Marriages in West Africa". Global Citizen. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  9. ^ "Young Guinean activists want to end FGM during summer break". The Observers - France 24. 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  10. ^ LE PROGRAMME LABCITOYEN DE L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS : « DROITS DES FEMMES : EGALITE ET CITOYENNETE » DU 30 JUIN AU 8 JUILLET 2019, sur Institut français, 19 juin 2019.
  11. ^ "Le président français Emmanuel Macron rencontre le directeur exécutif d'ONU Femmes, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, pour discuter des progrès du forum sur l'égalité des générations". Forum Génération Égalité (in French). 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  12. ^ Diallo, Ibrahima Sory (29 February 2020). "La jeune activiste guinéenne, Hadja Idrissa Bah invitée par Emmanuel Macron autour d'un déjeuner". www.gnakrylive.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  13. ^ Guineematin.com, Alpha (2020-03-02). "France : la Guinéenne Hadja Idrissa reçue par Emmanuel Macron à l'Elysée". Guinée Matin - Les Nouvelles de la Guinée profonde (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  14. ^ "Prix de la délégation aux droits des femmes du Sénat". lepetitjournal.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  15. ^ laguineenne (2019-12-07). "J-AWARDS 2019: le succès continue pour Hadja Idrissa Bah". La Guinéenne (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-05.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Guineematin (2019-12-10). "Conakry : le Club des jeunes filles leaders de Guinée veut organiser un forum africain de la jeune fille". Guinée Matin - Les Nouvelles de la Guinée profonde (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-05.
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