Memory Banda | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 24, 1996 |
| Occupation | Activist |
Memory Banda (born September 24, 1996) is a Malawian children's rights activist who has drawn international attention for her work in opposition to child marriage.
Memory Banda | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | September 24, 1996 |
| Occupation | Activist |
Memory Banda (born September 24, 1996) is a Malawian children's rights activist who has drawn international attention for her work in opposition to child marriage.
Banda was born in Mzimba District and grew up in Chiradzulu District. Her father died when she was four years old, and she was raised by her mother. Despite growing in a singled-headed family, Memory defied the odds of early marriage in her community. [1] Her sister Mercy was forced to marry at the age of 11 after she became pregnant during an initiation ceremony. [2] [3] At a young age, Memory aspired to be different from everybody and everything. She acknowledges that she was a tough girl. She had a voice, even though her culture reminded her to be quiet and silent because she was a girl child. [4] Her journey is an inspiration to the girl children across the globe.
A 2014 Human Rights Watch report found that "one out of two girls in [Malawi] on average was married by her 18th birthday". [5] Memory Banda has played an influential role at both community, national and recently international level, including presentation of a TED talk, [6] speaking at the 59th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, [7] and at the Oslo Freedom Forum. [8] She advocated for traditional leaders to formulate by-laws that protect the girl child and at national level she advocated for the legal age of marriage to be raised from 15 to 18 years of age. [9] This led to the law being changed to recognize 18 years as the legal age of marriage in Malawi. But Memory is more concerned about the enforcement of the law and she continues to advocate for the girl-child empowerment. [5] Memory has created Malawi’s Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) and Let Girls Lead girls community groups in an effort to keep girls in school and raise awareness of their rights. [8] [10] She collaborated on a story telling project were young girls shared their experiences, dreams and challenges they face through different forms of art and theater. [8]
In 2021, she was featured in the French documentary film Bigger Than Us . [11] [12]
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi and formerly known as Nyasaland, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south and southwest. Malawi spans over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 19,431,566. Malawi's capital and largest city is Lilongwe. Its second-largest is Blantyre, its third-largest is Mzuzu and its fourth-largest is its former capital, Zomba. It was the first capital city of Malawi before being changed to Lilongwe.
Child marriage is a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, between a child and an adult, or between a child and another child.
Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later forced to stay in the marriage against their will.
Ann Lesley Cotton OBE is a Welsh entrepreneur and philanthropist who was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 Queen's New Year Honours List. The honour was in recognition of her services to education of young women in rural Africa as the founder of Camfed.
Joyce Hilda Banda is a Malawian politician, who served as President of Malawi, from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011. An educator and grassroots women's rights activist, she was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and the Vice-President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. She has served in various roles as a member of Parliament and as Minister of Gender and Child Welfare before she became the President of the Republic of Malawi.
Raising Malawi is a charity non-profit organization that was founded by Madonna and Michael Berg in 2006. It is dedicated to helping with the extreme poverty and hardship endured by Malawi's one million orphans, primarily through health and education programming. Initially, the "Raising Malawi Academy for Girls" was to be constructed but following an audit by the Global Philanthropy Group, which questioned expenditure on salaries and benefits as well as the management capacity and culture, the charity's school headmistress resigned in October 2010 and the project was scrapped.
The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 1999.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is a Pakistani politician who served as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office from 27 April 2022 to 10 August 2023. He became the chairman of Pakistan People's Party in 2007, following his mother's assassination. Bilawal belongs to the Bhutto family, a prominent political family of Pakistan and is the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari, and the grandson of former President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bilawal had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 13 August 2018 till 10 August 2023. He re-elected as Member National Assembly of Pakistan in 2024 Pakistani general election from newly formed constituency NA-194 Larkana-I taken oath February 2024.
The history of human rights in Malawi during recent decades is complicated, and the situation at present is in a state of dramatic, and positive, transition.
Landesa Rural Development Institute is a nonprofit organization that works with governments and local organizations to obtain legal land rights for poor families. Since 1967, Landesa has helped more than 180 million poor families in 50 countries gain legal control over their land.
Leyla Hussein is a Somali-born British psychotherapist and social activist. She is the founder of Dahlia project, one of the co-founders of the Daughters of Eve non-profit organization and a Chief Executive of Hawa's Haven. In 2020, Hussein was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews, making her the third woman and first woman of colour to hold this position. Her 3-year term in the position has been labelled as 'chronically absent' and 'disappointing'.
Alaa Murabit M.D. is a Libyan-Canadian physician who has been serving as director of global health advocacy and communications at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Zuriel Elise Oduwole is an American education advocate and film maker best known for her works on the advocacy for the education of girls in Africa. Her advocacy has since made her in the summer of 2013 at the age of 10, the youngest person to be profiled by Forbes. In November 2014, at age 12, Zuriel became the world's youngest filmmaker to have a self-produced and self-edited work screened, after her film showed in two movie chains, and then went on to show in Ghana, England, South Africa, and Japan.
Rebeca Z. Gyumi is a Founder & Executive Director at Msichana Initiative, a Tanzanian NGO which aims to empower girls through education, and address key challenges which limit girl’s right to education. She has worked for over 8 years with Femina, a youth focused organisation, as a TV personality and youth advocate.
Violet Banda is a reporter and children's rights activist from Malawi. Through her weekly radio appearances, she has drawn the attention of the Malawian public and government to the problems affecting children in her country, including abuse, rape, forced marriage, and discrimination based on HIV status.
Feminism in Pakistan refers to the set of movements which aim to define, establish, and defend the rights of women in Pakistan.This may involve the pursuit of equal political, economic, and social rights, alongside equal opportunity. These movements have historically been shaped in response to national and global reconfiguration of power, including colonialism, nationalism, Islamization, dictatorship, democracy, and the War on Terror. The relationship between the women's movement and the Pakistani state has undergone significant shifts from mutual accommodation to confrontation and conflict.
Child marriage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the eighteenth highest in the world. In a child marriage, one or both parties are under the age of eighteen years old. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 37% of girls are married before they turn eighteen, and 10% of girls are married before age fifteen. Though significantly less than the rate of child marriage for girls, 6% of boys in the DRC are married before age eighteen.
Feminism in Indonesia refers to the long history of discourse for gender equality to bring about positive social change in Indonesia. The issues women in Indonesia currently are facing include gender violence, underage marriages, and lack of representation in the political system. Feminism and the women's right movement began during colonial Indonesia under Dutch rule and were spearheaded by the national heroine Kartini, a Javanese noblewoman who advocated for the education of all women and girls regardless of social status. In the early 19th century, women's rights organizations and movements were allowed to developed under Budi Utomo, the first Indonesian Nationalist organization. Modern day Indonesian feminism include and are influenced by both fundamentalist and progressive Islamic women's organizations.
Mercy Akuot Marang is a South Sudanese social activist and singer. She currently lives in Kenya.
Madonna has been known for her philanthropic endeavors, activism and political commentaries. She began as one of the first mainstream musicians to advocate in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Throughout her career, Madonna has advocated and supporting different causes including human rights, such as women's and LGBT rights. She has used her social media channels to motivate her followers and raise awareness about various social concerns. Since her early career, Madonna has defined that with her fame comes the responsibility to be a spokesperson.