Jaha Marie Dukureh

Jaha Marie Dukureh is a Gambian American women's rights activist, survivor of FGM and forced child marriage, Regional UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, and one of the youngest Africans ever to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, an organization dedicated to providing support to African women and girls who have survived Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and was the lead campaigner in The Guardian 's End FGM Guardian Global Media Campaign....See more

Jaha Marie Dukureh is a Gambian American women's rights activist, survivor of FGM and forced child marriage, Regional UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, and one of the youngest Africans ever to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, an organization dedicated to providing support to African women and girls who have survived Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and was the lead campaigner in The Guardian 's End FGM Guardian Global Media Campaign. Her work contributed directly to the Gambian Government's 2015 ban on FGM, and she is currently building the African-led network The Big Sisters Movement with the mission to end FGM and child marriage by 2030. Named to the TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world, Ms. Dukureh has been awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Medal of Honor, honored as the Human Rights Activist Humanitarian of the Year at the seventh annual African Diaspora Awards, recognized as one of the top 100 gender global policy influencers by Apolitical, and named one of the top 10 Africa Changemakers by YouthHubAfrica. She currently lives outside New York City and can be found online at Jaha365.com. See less