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JD
Jaha Dukureh
Safe Hands for Girls
Founder & CEO
Description
Jaha Dukureh is one of the youngest Africans ever to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
After being subjected to the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Jaha was adamant to use her voice and raise awareness in The Gambia and globally. She has become the leading voice of a new generation of African women rising up to demand equality for themselves.
Jaha is the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, a survivor led organization, whose grassroots programs create awareness of FGM and other forms of violence against women through education, advocacy and youth-led campaigns. Its work has directly led to FGM being banned in The Gambia in 2015. Jaha is currently focused on building an African led movement, The Big Sisters Movement, to end FGM and child marriage by 2030.
Jaha leads by example to inspire women and girls to become leaders in creating a better future for their communities and countries.
Her leadership, courage, and informed advocacy has been pivotal in engaging religious leaders in the coalition of stakeholder dedicated to ending FGM in Africa.
In February 2018, Jaha was appointed UN Women Ambassador for Africa. In this role, Jaha supports UN Women’s advocacy to end FGM and child marriage in Africa, focusing specifically on mobilizing youth. She holds a similar advising role at The World Bank.
In July 2021, Jaha was appointed the Managing Co-founder of Until We’re Equal, a campaign that aims to build female political power by driving recurring support for progressive, female-led, female-focused political organizers across the United States. Jaha was also recently appointed the co-chair of Youth for The Inter Party Committee of the Gambia, which consists of all political parties and their leaders. Her role as co-chair is to promote unity, collaboration, peace building and joint solutions to challenges facing the nation. Jaha has further dedicated herself to support a new generation of activists as one of the founding members of The NewNow, a group of global leaders who work together to ensure that the voices of rising young leaders are heard and that their agendas are implemented. in 2021, Jaha became the youngest vice presidential candidate for the oldest political party in The Gambia and will be running for president in 2026.
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