Djingarey Maiga, in his office in Bamako.Fatouma Harber
Djingarey Ibrahim Maiga (Gao, northern Mali, 1976) is one of the most recognized feminists in Mali, having dedicated more than 20 years to defending the rights of Malians through her organization Women and Human Rights, which she co-founded. in 2000 and of which she is general director.
“The situation of women must change so that they can enjoy all their rights as citizens,” she says in her office at the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family, in Bamako, where she acts as an advisor.
Mali, a West African country known for its cultural richness and ethnic diversity, also stands out for its socioeconomic gender inequalities.
Despite progress in the last two decades, Malians have limited access to education - barely 25% of girls finish secondary school compared to 31% of boys -, healthcare and formal employment.
This is confirmed by World Bank data, which reveal high maternal mortality (440 women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth for every 100,000 live births), as well as a skyrocketing rate of teenage pregnancies (150 out of every 1,000 girls in between 15 and 19 years old gave birth in the country in 2021), well above the average for low-income nations.
Rural women, in particular, are often marginalized and have less access to resources and opportunities.
The participation of the female population in the labor force is 54% compared to 80% for men.
These figures are reversed if we look at informal and vulnerable employment, which is carried out by almost 88% of working women, while it is 76% among men.
Maiga remembers that at a very early age she understood the need to organize to help farm workers and, after getting married, she became a community mediator and began working for a local NGO that intervened in the south in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health.
“In Mali, no woman can say that she has not witnessed discrimination, exclusion or violence.
“I saw these situations and I wondered what the status of women was in my country, in our society.”
And she decided that she wanted to change the answer.
In Mali, no woman can say that she has not witnessed discrimination, exclusion or violence
As a community mediator, she was deeply impressed by the conditions in which those rural women lived.
This led her to associate with four other community mediators who were as concerned as she was by the situation of these Malians, who lived suffocated by traditions that were much harsher for them than for men.
Thus was born their association, which focuses on the search for human rights in African and Malian traditions.
For this reason, he is learning N'Ko, an alphabet created by the Guinean writer Solomana Kante in 1949 as a transcription system for the Mandinka languages of West Africa.
Its objective is to analyze the Charter of the Mandén, proclaimed in Kurukan Fuga in the 13th century, and which is considered one of the oldest constitutions in the world, although it only exists in oral form and is transmitted from parents to children.
In its preamble and seven chapters, in fact, social peace in diversity, the inviolability of the human being, the education of people, the integrity of the homeland, food security, the abolition of slavery by race and the freedom of expression and commerce.
In addition to traditions, Maiga investigates women's rights in the Muslim religion, the majority in Mali.
With the Network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws, she has carried out studies on Muslim jurisprudence and
hadiths
- sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad that serve as guidance for daily life and are transmitted orally - that have led to a better understanding of the rights of women. women in Islam and has helped them distinguish between the traditions, interpretations and reality of their religion.
Despite progress in the last two decades, Malian women have limited access to education - barely 25% of girls finish secondary school compared to 31% of boys -, healthcare and formal employment.
In the field of politics, she is a fervent defender of the adoption of laws that protect and promote gender equality.
For this reason, she participated in the draft projects and political advocacy actions that led to the approval, in 2018, of Law 052, which introduced a 30% quota of women in nominated and elected positions in Mali.
She also campaigns against gender-based violence, including domestic violence, female genital mutilation, early marriage and child marriage, and fights for access to justice.
At first, Women and Human Rights functioned thanks to the volunteer work of its founders, but thanks to their efforts it has become a recognized feminist organization, which has allowed them to access subsidies and training programs for the activists who participate in the teams. dedicated to the promotion and protection of women's rights.
As a technical advisor to the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and Families, Maiga now divides her efforts between her NGO and the various campaigns she directs to promote the emancipation of Malian women.
In her view, women's rights activists need to get closer to the authorities if they are to be more successful in their grassroots lobbying and advocacy activities, as well as in formulating proposals for promotion and protection. from the human rights.
“Political transitions are difficult times.
Our place is to be at the side, sometimes providing advice to promote the rights of Malian women,” says the activist.
“Today we are a feminist organization and we want to bring together all the associations that declare themselves in favor of the protection of women's rights and gender equality.
It seems to me an opportunity for us all to speak with one voice and triumph in the fight for women's rights,” she concludes.
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