Anna Aloys Henga

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Anna Aloys Henga
Anna Aloys Henga From Tanzania Receives Her 2019 IWOC Award (47310450421).jpg
Anna Aloys Henga poses with a IWOC award alongside US First Lady Melania Trump
NationalityTanzanian
Occupationdiplomat, lawyer, social activist
Awards2019 International Women of Courage Award


Anna Aloys Henga is a Tanzanian lawyer and human rights activist who is known for her social services including women empowerment initiatives such as coordinating anti-female genital mutilation in Tanzania. She became the executive director of Legal and Human Rights Center in 2018.

Life[]

Henga's parents were civil servants and she was one of their six children. She said that she was unaware as a child of sexual discrimination.

She campaigns to reduce Female genital mutilation. It has been illegal in Tanzania since 1998 but it is estimated that 10% of girls still suffer this treatment.[1]

In 2015, she was encouraged to contest at the Tanzanian general elections. She is also known for motivating other women to involve in politics in Tanzania.[2]

She is also a human rights activist and was appointed as the executive director of Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) in 2018 replacing Dr. Helen Kijo-Bisimba.[3]

In 2019, she was named as one of the recipients of the International Women of Courage Award and received the prestigious award from the United States Department of State.[4][2] Notably, she, Moumina Houssein Darar (Djibouti) and Maggie Gobran (Egypt) were the three African women who were included this year.[5]

Anna Aloys Henga poses with other fellow recipients of the 2019 International Women of Courage Award

References[]

  1. ^ "Fighting for the Rights of Women and Girls in Tanzania | YALI Network". Young African Leaders Initiative Network. 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  2. ^ a b "2019 International Women of Courage Award". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  3. ^ "Introducing the LHRC new Executive Director, Ms. Anna Aloys Henga". www.humanrights.or.tz. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  4. ^ "First lady Melania Trump honors 10 with 'Women of Courage' award". UPI. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  5. ^ "U.S. honours three African women from Djibouti, Egypt and Tanzania for courage". Face2Face Africa. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
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