Global perspective Human stories

UN and Africa

UNIC/Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian human rights champion for women and girls wins top award

They have a saying where Rebeca Gyumi comes from in Tanzania, which sums up the collective spirit of community she grew up in: “I am, because you are”.

The drive to champion human rights instilled in her as a girl, came to fruition last December, when she arrived at UN Headquarters in New York, as a recipient of the prestigious UN Human Rights Prize.

This came on top of major achievements at home, including leading a successful campaign to repeal Tanzanian law, which once permitted child marriages for girls as young as 14.

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