Mar 13, 2017
At the recent Global Ties U.S. National Meeting in Washington D.C., Ms. Rebeca Gyumi from Tanzania won the first-ever International Visitor Leadership Program Alumni Award for Social Innovation and Change for her achievements on youth empowerment and ending legal child marriages in Tanzania.
Rebeca is the founder and Executive Director at Msichana Initiative, which works to empower girls through education. She filed a petition in 2016 at the High Court of Tanzania and won a landmark case raising the minimum age for marriage from 14 to 18 years. She hopes this will allow more girls in Tanzania to attend school, rather than enter into marriages at young ages.
Rebeca was nominated for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program in 2013, a professional exchange program that connects international emerging leaders to their counterparts in the United States. Program alumni include more than 300 current and former Heads of State and Chiefs of Government from around the world. It was through this program, administered on the local level by Global Ties ABQ, that Rebeca came to Albuquerque and met with the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, which inspired her to give a greater voice to women and young girls in Tanzania. She was moved by their desire to be a part of change in the community and the fact that the City of Albuquerque had an official way for them to be a part of the process.
The youth of the Council were such a passionate group of students that really inspired me to want to do more in my community -Rebeca Gyumi
Since founding her organization, Rebeca has won the UNICEF Global Goals Award in social change and facilitated many national and international forums on youth empowerment. Global Ties ABQ was honored to host her in Albuquerque and reconnect with her last week at the Global Tie U.S. National Meeting, where she also met with Senator Udall and Senator Heinrich.
Global Ties ABQ, a local nonprofit, manages segments of the International Visitor Leadership Program that are carried out in Central New Mexico. Each year Global Ties ABQ welcomes over 200 emerging leaders on the IVLP and other exchange programs, such as the Young Leaders of America Initiative.
For each delegation, Global Ties ABQ sets up tailored meetings with various organizations, such as WESST, Casa de Salud, the Southwest Women’s Law Center, and hundreds of others doing exceptional work in our community. Global Ties ABQ has nine upcoming delegations this spring that are focusing on Human Rights, Higher Education, Health Care, Ending Gender Based Violence, Climate Change, and Civic Activism.
To learn more, visit their website or contact Adelle Lees, the Director at [email protected].