Noerine Kaleeba is a Ugandan physiotherapist, educator and AIDS activist. She is the co-founder of the AIDS activism group "The AIDS Support Organization" (TASO). She is currently a program development adviser for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). She is also the Patron of TASO.
Lieve Fransen is a senior adviser to the European Policy Centre on health, social and migration policies, and published studies on investing in social infrastructure, energy poverty and social investment. Between 2011 and 2015 she was the social policies director in the Directorate for Employment and Social affairs for the European Commissionin charge of social policies, poverty eradication, pensions, health and social protection. Before that she was director for communication and representations in the EC's communication directorate for more than 500 networks across the European Union and from 1987 till 1997 she was head of unit for human development in the European Commissions department for development.
Rwanda faces a generalized epidemic, with an HIV prevalence rate of 3.1 percent among adults ages 15 to 49. The prevalence rate has remained relatively stable, with an overall decline since the late 1990s, partly due to improved HIV surveillance methodology. In general, HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and women are at higher risk of HIV infection than men. Young women ages 15 to 24 are twice as likely to be infected with HIV as young men in the same age group. Populations at higher risk of HIV infection include people in prostitution and men attending clinics for sexually transmitted infections.
Rose Kabuye is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Rwandan Army and Until late 2023, she was the highest ranking woman ever to serve in her country's armed forces. She is currently working in the private sector as chief executive officer of Virunga Logistics and Startech Limited but is best known for her work as a fighter for the Rwandan Patriotic Front during the Rwandan Civil War. She subsequently became Mayor of Kigali City, Rwandan Chief of State Protocol, and a member of the Rwandan parliament. Because of her participation in the liberation struggle, she was awarded The Rwandan National Liberation Medal and the Campaign Against Genocide Medal. She was serving as the chief of protocol of Rwandan President Paul Kagame in November 2008 when she was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany on charges that were lifted in March 2009.
Geeta Rao Gupta is a leader on gender, women's issues, and HIV/AIDS who is serving as United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues since May 2023. She previously served as executive director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation since 2017. She is frequently consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women's vulnerability to HIV and is an advocate for women's economic and social empowerment to fight disease, poverty and hunger.
Jeannette Nyiramongi Kagame is the wife of Paul Kagame. She became the First Lady of Rwanda when her husband took office as President in 2000. Kagame is the founder and chairman of Imbuto Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support the development of a healthy, educated and prosperous society.
Christine Dranzoa was a Ugandan university professor, academic administrator, biologist, terrestrial ecologist and community leader. She was, at the time of her death, the Vice Chancellor of Muni University, one of the public universities in Uganda.
The Rwanda women's national football team represents Rwanda in women's association football and is controlled by the Rwandese Association Football Federation. It had to date been scheduled to compete in one major tournament, the inaugural Women's Challenge Cup held in Zanzibar in October 2007, but the event was ultimately canceled. It has finally debuted in February 2014 against Kenya. The team is nicknamed The She-Amavubi.
In Rwanda, sport is supported by the government's Sports Development Policy of October 2012. This argues that sport has a number of benefits, including bringing people together, improving national pride and unity, and improving health. The policy identifies challenges to the development of sport in the country, including limited infrastructure and financial capacity. It sets the "inspirational target" that, by 2020, Rwanda should have "a higher percentage of population playing sport than in any other African nation" and be ranked amongst the top three African countries in basketball, volleyball, cycling, athletics and Paralympic sports, and the top ten in football. It also aims to "foster increased participation of people in traditional sports". According to research published by the University of the Western Cape's Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Sport Science and Development, the most popular sports in Rwanda are association football, volleyball, basketball, athletics and Paralympic sports.
Prudence Nobantu Mabele was a South African activist who advocated for the rights of women and children living with HIV/AIDS, and against gender-based violence. She was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1990 and went public with her status in 1992. She set up the Positive Women's Network in 1996. She worked with UNAIDS and also qualified as a sangoma. She was the recipient of many awards, including the Felipa de Souza award in 1999. In 2004, she carried the Olympic flame. She died in 2017 and in her memory the International AIDS Society set up an annual prize for gender activists.
Ingando camps are Rwandan political and civic reeducation and indoctrination camps. These camps were created by the ruling party of Rwanda, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Ingando camp participants are required to wear military uniforms, live together and participate in shared activities.
Beatrice Allen has been the vice president of the Gambia National Olympic Committee since 2009 and a member of the International Olympic Committee starting in 2006. She has served as vice president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), one of the biggest international sports federations, since 2017.
Else Trangbæk was a Danish gymnast. She competed in five events at the 1968 Summer Olympics. After her retirement from active gymnastics – with 26 national titles between 1964 and 1970 – she continued her education she became a university professor for sports history and a sports administrator.
Everlyn Chemutai is a Ugandan accountant and legislator. She has been the woman Representative member of the Parliament of Uganda for the Bukwo District since 2016. She is affiliated with the National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Violet A Akurut also known as Akurut Violet Adome is a Ugandan politician and teacher by profession. She is the district woman representative of Katakwi District in the 10th Parliament of Uganda. She is a member of the National Resistance Movement political party. She was the aspiring Woman Member of Parliament 2021–2026, of Katakwi under NRM political party.
Kereyn Maree Smith is a New Zealand sports administrator. She was the chief executive and secretary general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) from January 2011 to December 2021. She has also held several other roles in sports administration.
Fulata Lusungu Mbano Moyo is a Malawian systematic and feminist theologian who is an advocate for gender justice. Moyo has written over twenty-eight journal articles.
Fatuma Ndangiza is a women's rights advocate, policy expert, and politician. As of January 2024, she is serving her second term as a Rwandan member of the East African Legislative Assembly. Born and raised in a refugee camp in Uganda, she returned to Rwanda during the civil war. Initially she settled in Byumba and led the SOS Ramira initiative to assist women and children in acquiring basic supplies and treatment to meet their needs. When the Rwandan Patriotic Front took control of Kigali, she moved to the capital and began working in the Ministry for Women and Family Promotion to provide support and relief to survivors and victims of the Rwandan genocide. She helped to create the National Women's Council and its regional and local frameworks to empower women to help them achieve political and economic parity through legal change and advocacy. She worked with the women's ministry until 2002.
Oda Gasinzigwa is a Rwandan civil servant and politician. Born in Tanzania as a refugee, she was educated at the Institute of Development Management in Mzumbe and then worked for eight years at the National Bank of Commerce in Dar es Salaam. When the Rwandan genocide ended in 1994, she moved to Kigali and worked with various ministries to improve women's economic and leadership.
Litha Musyimi-Ogana is a Kenyan, who has worked as an international civil servant and development advisor for many years. Since 2022, she has been an elected member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, chairing the committees responsible for Indigenous people and people living with HIV. She organised the Women's Peace Train, which traveled from Kampala, Uganda to Johannesburg, South Africa to advocate for ending conflict and bringing stability for women and children in Africa for the Earth Summit 2002. From 2007 to 2015, she was the director of the African Union Commission's department of Women, Gender and Development. In 2013, she was recognised by Malawian President Joyce Banda as one of the distinguished women of Africa in a ceremony which was part of the decennial celebrations of the African Union's Maputo Protocol and in 2020 she was honoured with the African Women of Excellence Award by the African Union's Diaspora African Forum.
