Prof. Ndioro Ndiaye

Coordinator of the Francophone Network for Gender Equality, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie

Prof. Ndioro Ndiaye is Coordinator of the Francophone Network for Gender Equality (RF-EFH). This network aims to promote gender and equality in French-speaking countries, in particular for the adoption and effective implementation of laws in favour of gender equality, as well as the revision of texts that discriminate against women.

Prior to this, she was Senegal's Minister of Social Development in 1988. During the border war between Mauritania and Senegal in 1989, she carried out humanitarian activities with the Senegalese government, assisting displaced persons from Senegal and Mauritania. Prof. Ndiaye was Senegal's Minister for Women, Children and the Family from 1990 to 1995.

As part of her mandate, she chaired the Regional Conference of African Women in Senegal, as a prelude to the 1995 Beijing International Women's Conference (Beijing '95). From 1995 to 1999, she returned to work at Cheikh Anta Diop University, but was increasingly active in international activities, including the "world summits" of the UN Decade for Women in 1990 and 1995.

She contributed to the creation of the Scientific Commission on Women and Development, and the establishment of the Network of African Women Leaders for Peace and Development.

In 1999, she was elected Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), where she served a second term in 2004 before retiring from IOM in 2009.
She then founded the Alliance for Migration, Leadership and Development, based in Dakar, of which she is the President.

She is a Knight of the Legion of Honour in France and Commander of the National Order of the Lion in Senegal.

Ms Ndeye Mingue N'Diaye Gacko

Ndèye Mingué is a midwife by training, a senior health technician, a Master II in reproductive health, population and development, and a gender expert. Since 2013, she has been the coordinator of the gender unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Action.

Ndéye Mingué has benefited from several national and international training courses which have enabled her to broaden and strengthen her professional skills in the development, monitoring and evaluation of health policies.
Mingué is a trainer in reproductive health, gender and health and menstrual hygiene management.

Ms. Gacko has capitalised on some thirty years of experience in the health sector, particularly in the field of reproductive health and community health in Senegal (health programmes, community organisation), where she was successively head of the community health office, head of the health system strengthening office, and focal point for some ten years for health projects I and II supported by the African Development Bank to improve maternal and child health.
She coordinated the MSAS gender audit exercise and the gender institutionalisation plan which is in its implementation phase.

Ms Nogaye Sow

"Badiénou Gokh" President of the Thienaba health mutual, Member of the local cereal processing unit of GIE Fass Diom

Nogaye Sow is the "Badiénou Gokh" of the Thiénaba district.

Ever since she was a child, she has been interested in public health and has always volunteered to help her neighbours with any illness.
Nogaye Sow is also the president of the Badiénou Gokh of the Khombole district, which includes five communes. She was named best badjénou gokh in the Khombole district and best badjénou gokh in the Thiès region in 2016.

As part of its activities in Thiénaba, it organises talks with women and home visits to raise awareness among women and families about reproductive health, menstrual hygiene and the prevention of malaria through the use of impregnated mosquito nets.

Nogaye Sow a is also president of the mutual health organisation called "diapo fadju thiénaba", created in 1999, and treasurer of the departmental union of mutual health organisations in Thiès.
In her district, she continues to carry out activities to raise awareness among women on the barriers to be adopted in the fight against Covid 19.

Ms Rajah Sy

National Director of Special Olympics Senegal

Rajah Diouri Sy is the National Director of Special Olympics Senegal since 2011. After graduating from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen, she worked for 26 years in the field of accounting and finance, as Administrative and Financial Director of an industrial company. In June 2019, she decided to devote herself, on a voluntary basis, to Special Olympics Senegal.

In parallel to her professional life, she is involved in the associative life by being, from 2000 to 2015, successively, an active member of the office of the Parents Association of the Institution Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc, General Secretary and Vice-president.
She joined Special Olympics Senegal in 2006, as a parent of a child with Down's Syndrome, volunteering to support the association on the administrative level. In 2009, she was appointed General Secretary and in 2011 National Director.

Internationally, Rajah Diouri Sy is a member of the Special Olympics African Advisory Council from 2012 to 2020. She was Head of Delegation at the 2011 Special Olympics World Games in Athens, 2015 in Los Angeles and 2019 in Abu Dhabi, as well as at the continental competitions in 2012 in Johannesburg and 2020 in Cairo.
Under his leadership, Special Olympics Senegal has partnered with several ministries of the State of Senegal and has become a nationally and internationally recognised organisation thanks to the diversity and quality of the programmes developed and implemented for the benefit of people with intellectual disabilities for their effective inclusion in society.

Mr. Arthur Athea

Head of NGO Association Anonyme

Arthur ATHEA is a paralegal. He is an LGBTQI activist, President and Founder of the Anonymous Association in Côte d'Ivoire.
He is in charge of communication at the Réseau Afrique Francophone d'auto-support des Usagers de Drogue (RAFASUD) and Vice-President of the Réseau des coïnfections VIH/TUBERCULOSE/HÉPATITES VIRALES (UNICO). He is the focal point of the Abidjan-Sud human rights observatory and also the focal point of the network of national human rights institutions in Côte d'Ivoire.

Sister Emmanuelle

Founder and Head of the NGO Y-Voir et Sourire

Sister Emmanuelle is the Executive Director of the NGO Y-voir & Sourire whose mission is to contribute to the social reintegration of young people (in particular young people addicted to illicit substances and ex-prisoners) aged between 12 and 35; to provide help and assistance to these young people in order to enable their development and autonomy; to contribute to the design and implementation of micro-projects for their benefit in order to improve their living conditions and those of their families, and to promote a better education for young people and children

She is a Religious member of the Catholic Community of the Beatitudes and she is also a lawyer and a health care worker by training.

Ms Aissata Sidibé N'Dia

President, Yelenba, Women in Action

Aissata Sidibé N'Dia is president and founding member of Yelenba-Women in Action, an NGO that works to empower women and raise awareness among young girls in Côte d'Ivoire. The creation of Yelenba is the result of a decision to support, through concrete actions, African women and girls in order to offer them opportunities to improve their daily life.

Since June 2020, she manages the Afrique Femme platform and produces and presents African Woman 2.0, a show that highlights women leaders of today and tomorrow who brave all challenges to accomplish their dreams, while keeping their African values.
Created in March 2013, Afriquefemme.com is a portal for dynamic and entrepreneurial African women. Afriquefemme.com communicates useful information and tips through its articles and sections in the fields of economy, health, fashion, cooking and entertainment.

Ms Awa Sylla

Technical Advisor to the Minister for Women, Family and Children

She is an expert in participatory development and a specialist in gender issues. She has a rich background in accompanying numerous development agencies in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects and various incentives related to sustainable development.
She is currently writing a doctoral thesis on gender issues in public administration in her country, Côte d'Ivoire.
She is also a communicator and is particularly involved in the design of communication strategies for development.

She has experience in grassroots community development issues in thinking and acting on community participation and access to basic social services and capacity building for the poorest.

She has worked on many social development projects and in the promotion of human rights (women and children) in different countries (Ivory Coast, Mali, Chad, Togo, Mauritania, Niger, etc.).

A trained teacher and journalist, she works as a consultant and coach for non-governmental organisations involved in sustainable development and intervenes in the private sector for the effective integration of gender and the empowerment of women and girls.

She is currently a technical advisor to the Minister of Women, Family and Children in Côte d'Ivoire.