Maria Munir Yusuf | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Ethiopian |
Education | Unity University (LLB) |
Occupation | Activist |
Maria Munir Yusuf is founder and director of the Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development in Ethiopia. [1] [2] She also co-founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association. [3]
Maria was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Harari parents. She became involved in charitable work while still in high school, and was able to raise relief funds for the Wollo famine in collaboration with the YWCA. [4] [5]
Maria began her career as a judge at the High Court of Ethiopia and following becoming a lawyer co-founded Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) in 1995 serving as board member with other Ethiopian women including Meaza Ashenafi and Atsedeweine Tekle. [6]
In 2003 Maria founded the "Organization against Gender Based Violence" in Ethiopia which would later be renamed the Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development (AWSAD) in 2009, the organization was the first to provide shelter exclusively for vulnerable women in the country. [7] [8] In 2011 she met with Michelle Bachelet director of UN Women who paid a visit to AWSAD. [9]
Maria was presented with the AWiB's Women of Excellence award in 2015. [10]
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to describe a location for the same purpose that is open to people of all genders at risk.
Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), is violent acts primarily committed by men or boys against women or girls. Such violence is often considered a form of hate crime, committed against persons specifically because they are of the female gender, and can take many forms.
Womankind Worldwide is a UK-based, feminist global women's rights organisation that works in solidarity with women's movements around the world to bring about lasting change in women's lives. Founded in 1989, Womankind partners with women's movements in Africa and Asia to support them in their efforts to change discriminatory laws and policies, challenge gender norms and stereotypes, and provide transformative programmes and services to women and girls.
There have been several studies concerning women in Ethiopia. Historically, elite and powerful women in Ethiopia have been visible as administrators and warriors. This never translated into any benefit to improve the rights of women, but it had meant that women could inherit and own property and act as advisors on important communal and tribal matters. As late as the first part of the 20th century, Queen Menen, consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I, had a decisive role in running the Ethiopian Empire. Workit and Mestayit regents to their minor sons have been held responsible for their provinces. They owed their rights to landed property because of a special type of land tenure that expected tenants to serve as militia to overlords, irrespective of gender. In 1896, Empress Tayetu Betul, wife of Emperor Menelik II, actively advised the government and participated in defending the country from Italian invasion. Prominent and other landowning women fought against the second invasion in 1935–41. With the assistance of European advisors, women in the ensuing period were kept out of the army and politics, even as advisors. Instead, they were restricted to family and household work of raising children and cooking. With a steady increase in female representation in education, they have started to undertake nursing, teaching, and other similarly supportive roles. Over the 2018–2019 period, their gradual participation in state politics has been increasing at a steady pace.
Women in Cambodia, due to the influence of the dominant Khmer culture, are traditionally expected to be modest and soft-spoken. They are to be well-mannered, industrious, and hold a sense of belonging to the household. It is expected that they act as the family's caregivers and caretakers, financial administrators, and serve as the "preserver of the home". As financial administrators, women can be identified as having household authority at the familial level. Khmer women are expected to maintain virginity until marriage, become faithful wives, and act as advisors to their husbands. Women in Cambodia have also be known as “light” walkers-- "light" walking and refinement of the Khmer women is further described as being "quiet in […] movements that one cannot hear the sound of their silk skirt rustling".
The Relief Society of Tigray is an NGO based in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. REST was founded in 1978 as an organisation providing relief efforts to civilians. As of 2008, Teklewoini Assefa served as Executive Director of REST. REST emerged as the humanitarian wing of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and has remained closely linked to TPLF. REST was active throughout the armed conflict of the 1980s, including during the devastating 1984–1985 famine. Since the 1990s it is the major NGO operating in Tigray.
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Yetnebersh Nigussie is an Ethiopian lawyer and disability rights activist. In 2017, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her inspiring work promoting the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, allowing them to realise their full potential and changing mindsets in our societies."
Women's health in Ethiopia can be broken down into several sections: general health status, women's status, maternal health, HIV, harmful traditional practices, and violence against women.
Meaza Ashenafi is an Ethiopian lawyer. In November 2018, she was appointed by the Federal Parliamentary Assembly as President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia until her resignation on 17 January 2023.
Nahu Senay Girma is an Ethiopian women's rights activist. She is the co-founder and executive director of Association of Women in Boldness (AWiB), a non-governmental organisation established in April 2010 to train women for leadership roles, and has established several charities.
Hilina Berhanu Degefa is an Ethiopian women's rights activist and researcher. She is a co-founder of The Yellow Movement, a youth-led feminist advocacy and empowerment program based in Addis Ababa and Mekelle University. She was a 2015 recipient of a Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the youngest to receive the honor at the age of 22. Hilina is also a Women Deliver Young Leaders Fellow, class of 2020. She is the first Ethiopian civil society representative to brief the UN Security Council.
Senait Fisseha is an Ethiopian-American physician, lawyer and obstetrician-gynecologist. She specialized in endocrinology at the University of Michigan and received her Juris Doctor from Southern Illinois University. She is currently Vice-President of International Programs at the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation. She became an advocate for global equity, working with African leaders and institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. She also chaired the election campaign and transition of Tedros Adhanom, the first African Director General of the World Health Organization, in 2016-17.
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The Association for Rehabilitation and Re-Orientation of Women for Development, abbreviated as TERREWODE, is a leading Ugandan nonprofit organization. It pioneered best practices for the elimination of obstetric fistula in Uganda over 16 years. The organization focuses on maternal and reproductive health. Headquartered in Soroti, TERREWODE's efforts target the empowerment and education of young women in rural communities. TERREWODE's activism focuses on women's rights to maternal, reproductive and sexual health, as well as the treatment and social reintegration of victims of obstetric fistula.
Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin is an Ethiopian politician and physician who served as the Minister of Health from 12 March 2020 until 8 February 2024. Prior to her appointment, Lia served as State Minister of Health from November 2018. She also served as an Executive Director at the University of Michigan's Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a CEO and Vice Provost in St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) in Addis Ababa and as a Project Director of USAID's Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) at Jhpiego-Ethiopia.
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