Rebecca Gyumi (Dodoma, Tanzania, 1986) arrives in Madrid on a hot April afternoon. It is the first time that he travels to spain. The African lawyer and activist has barely had time to land and jumps straight to the inauguration of the Global Pneumonia Forum that has just been held at the CaixaForum. She says it with a wide smile in an interview she gives to THE SPANISH NEWSPAPER in which he recalls how, in 2016, at the age of 30, he managed to make the supreme court of his country declared unconstitutional the Marriage Law of 1971, which allowed girls to marry at the age of 14. Winner, in 2018, of the UN Human Rights Prize, Gyumi is one of those women who, with determination, change the world.
Calm, sweet and energetic at the same timeRebeca Gyumi transmits the welcome that, she says, characterizes the girls of his country. Those young girls that he wants to push so that they are masters of their destiny. He says that at the time the interview is taking place, in Tanzania, the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs is conducting a campaign for the adoption of the amendment of the law that allows girls to marry, something that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutionalbut that, day by day, continues to happen.
Rebeca, quite a celebrity in Africa, is firm. She begins the interview by squeezing her hand hard. He ends up giving a warm hug and inviting them to get to know his country which, he assures, beyond those wonderful peaks of Kilimanjaro, it has a lot to offer. To Spain, before a forum of leaders and NGOs from 14 countries who speak of pneumonia and vaccines -organized by the “la Caixa” Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or UNICEF, among other entities – has come to send a resounding message: it speaks of girls, of strength, of escaping an ancestral destiny. Of investment in education as the best of vaccines. That they have a voice and be free.
The lawyer runs an NGO, Iniciativa A girlwhat in suajili (official language in TanzaniaKenya and Uganda) means girl. His work focuses on the regions of his country where child marriage it is more ingrained. Also in sex education of girls in a country that, in world statistics, appears among the first with more HIV infections.
“There are so many girls who are still getting married every day. They are forced to. Most of them are from poor families,” says Gyumi.
The first reference one comes across when reviewing his career is that of ‘influencer‘. Does she feel comfortable in that role? “I define myself as an activist feminist. By default, it means being an activist for girls’ rights in my community,” she replies. In fact, the story of child marriage she saw it repeated a thousand times when she was growing up. But still today, she says, when she travels through her country, she sees “so many girls who are still getting married every day. What makes me unnerved and sad is that they are forced to do it. And the majority, They are from poor families.”
Ask. She has come to Spain to participate in a forum on pneumonia, a disease that every 42 seconds kills a child in the world. What message did she want to convey?
Answer. When it comes to pneumonia, more than 50% of children who die do so in sub-Saharan Africa. Many are teenagers. Children born to mothers who have had an education are 30% less likely to die. There is a strong relationship between the education of mothers and the survival rate of children. We talk about increasing immunization through the use of vaccines. My challenge is: vaccines can be very useful, but the most important thing is to invest in the education of girls, give them power, voice and leadership. So that they can decide when they want to have a child and with whom, because often these children are the result of rape. And confidence so that they can decide their lives. In other words, the investment should not only be in vaccines, but, at the same time, it should be invested in education for girls.
Q. You appear on different lists as one of the women who are changing the world and have received numerous awards. How does it feel?
R. The recognition that comes from global platforms I take with great humility. Especially since I am a young woman, coming from sub-Saharan Africa. And because it also means assuming a lot of responsibility. I appreciate those acknowledgments and people seeing the work I’m doing, but really, that means more commitment to my mission for me. It’s a motivation because it means my work is recognized, but a constant reminder that I have to keep fighting.
“My community, unfortunately, is deeply patriarchal and young girls don’t think they have the same rights as boys their age,” says Gyumi.
Q. In 2016, you managed to get the Supreme Court of Tanzania to declare unconstitutional the Marriage Act, which dated from 1971 and allowed girls to marry at the age of 14. How is the fight now?
R. I was the leader of the movement, but I worked with many more people. We managed to file an appeal to the Supreme Court which ultimately declared child marriage unconstitutional. At this time, due to the separation of powers, we are winning in the judiciary, but we are fighting, at the legislative level, so that the decision adopted by the Supreme Court is complied with. Through our campaign, we put pressure on Parliament to amend the law that now exists and that amendment be approved.
Q. What does it mean for a girl to marry at 14 years of age?
A. My community, unfortunately, is deeply patriarchal and young women don’t think they have the same rights as boys their age. In the end, they do not know their rights -such as to education- nor do they talk about them and this does not happen with young people. The girls are considered to be second-class citizens. Everything has to do with customs, traditions and religion. Child marriage in our communities was covered by law and the law was supported by those customs. Therefore, our job is to pressure from the State so that this policy changes through the amendment of the law. So you can protect those girls. I understand that this is difficult to understand in a country like Spain. In East Africa, only Tanzania had this situation. For example, Egypt changed this policy last year. It has been much more difficult in countries where there is no pluralism, where Islam predominates. There it has been very difficult to introduce change through laws.
Q. She said that she doesn’t like being called an ‘influencer’. But the truth is that you and your group have changed the fate of many girls.
A. (Smile). The ones who should answer that question are the girls. Personally, it fills me to know that I can help change other people’s lives. But I don’t want to promote myself. I want them to feel what they have achieved with those changes. If the recognition comes from them, great.
Q. What is your NGO currently working on, Iniciativa A girl?
A. I founded the organization in 2015. We work on three strategies. First, strengthen the voice of the girls, give them power and ability to act. Also in what we call re-entry into the system to promote change; that is, to favor the reinsertion of girls who at some point became pregnant and in an access to education program. Along these lines, we help with everything they need for menstruation or bicycles to get around. The last thing is the formation of communities so that they are not isolated. We now have 52 groups of girls who go to school and 40 groups for the out-of-school. We have donated about 500 bicycles. And we work in 44 communities.
2023-04-30 04:50:44
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