Dubai, UAE – February 12, 2023
Thank you to the organizers of the TIME100 Impact Awards for this gracious honor and congratulations to my fellow awardees recognized alongside me this evening!
Thank you also to my loved ones and colleagues across the decades who have propelled me to the heights that we celebrate today. I particularly want to acknowledge the Foundation for Community Development and the Graça Machel Trust, the two institutions which have become my platforms to bring my passions and contributions to humanity as a women’s’ and child rights advocate to life.
As a rural girl from a small village in Mozambique who walked to school barefoot, I would never have expected to stand on a stage like this being recognized for my life’s work as a social justice activist. Had it not been for my family, who invested in my education and nurtured my dreams, my fate would have been totally different.
All too often, not much is expected from girls who come from humble and limiting circumstances such as my own. But my story need not be an unlikely one. I know intimately that education is the key to fulfilling one’s highest calling.
There are millions of girls around the world—particularly ones blessed with my skin color– who have bigger ambitions of impact than my own, and whose promise of a future is brighter than what we celebrate today.
This is why no effort must be spared to ensure this will be the last generation to endure the suffering of discrimination. Not one more child should have her future handicapped by forced marriage or severe malnutrition. Not one more woman should fear the violation of her body or the degradation of the silencing of her voice. We must all have the opportunity, the nurturing, and the backing, to inherit the dreams of our own aspirations and achievement.
I deeply appreciate tonight’s accolades and recognition, and yes, we must celebrate our successes, but let us make no mistake that the important work of social transformation remains largely unfinished. There is much impact yet to be made. Let us channel this energy and our resources towards investing in women’s leadership and the potential of girls, and in doing so, shaping the future of our communities into prosperous, healthy and equitable ones.
And in closing, I offer to all those who are fighting the noble fight for gender and racial equality, for social justice and economic advancement for all: Keep strong. Keep resilient. Be unyielding and steadfast in our struggle. Victory will be ours.
A luta continua!
I thank you.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.