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.

For this edition of our UN and Africa podcast, the human rights champion and NGO founder explained to UN News’s Natalie Hutchison the passion fueling her work, and why she won’t stop now.

Music Credit: "Night Owl" by Broke for Free.