Djingarey Maiga: an inspiring voice for the women of Mali

Djingarey Ibrahim Maiga was born in Gao, a city in northern Mali, in 1976. Today, she’s one of the most-recognized feminists in her country, having dedicated more than 20 years to defending the rights of Malians through her organization – Women and Human Rights – which she co-founded back in 2000.

“The situation of women must change, so that they can enjoy all their rights as citizens,” she emphasizes, in her office at the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family, in Bamako, the capital of Mali. She acts as an advisor to the ministry, while also serving as the general director of her NGO.

Mali is a landlocked West African country, known for its cultural richness and ethnic diversity. It also struggles with socioeconomic and gender inequalities. Despite progress over the last two decades, Malians have limited access to education – barely 25% of girls finish secondary school, compared to 31% of boys – healthcare and formal employment. This is confirmed by World Bank data, which reveal high maternal mortality (440 women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth for every 100,000 live births), as well as a skyrocketing rate of teenage pregnancies (150 out of every 1,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19-years-old gave birth in the country in 2021), well above the average for low-income nations.

Rural women, in particular, are often marginalized and have less access to resources and opportunities when compared to women living in urban areas. The participation of the female population in the labor force is 54% compared to 80% for men. However, these figures are reversed if we look at informal and vulnerable employment, which is carried out by almost 88% of working women, while it’s 76% among men.

Maiga remembers that, at a very early age, she understood the need to organize. After getting married, she became a community mediator and began working for a local NGO that operated in the south of the country, promoting sexual and reproductive health for women and girls living in farming areas. “In Mali, no woman can say that she hasn’t witnessed discrimination, exclusion, or violence. I saw these situations firsthand and I wondered what the status of women was in my country, in our society.”

As a community mediator, she was deeply impacted by the conditions in which those rural women lived. This led her to associate with four other community mediators who were as concerned as she was by the situation faced by their fellow Malians, who lived suffocated by traditions that were much harsher for them than for men.

Thus was born her own association, which focuses on the pursuit of human rights within African and Malian traditions. For this reason, she’s learning N’Ko – an alphabet that was created by the Guinean writer Solomana Kante in 1949, as a transcription system for the Mandinka languages of West Africa. Her objective is to analyze the Manden Charter, proclaimed in Kurukan Fuga in the 13th century by the Mali Empire. This is considered to be one of the oldest constitutions in the world, although it only exists in oral form and is transmitted from generation to generation. In its preamble and seven chapters, the charter emphasizes social peace in diversity, the inviolability of the human being, the education of people, the integrity of the homeland, food security, the abolition of slavery by race and the freedom of expression and commerce.

In addition to looking at traditions, Maiga researches women’s rights in the Muslim faith, which is the principal religion in Mali. Through Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) – a transnational solidarity network – she has carried out studies on Muslim jurisprudence and hadiths (the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, which serve as guidance for daily life and are transmitted orally). This has led to a better understanding of the rights of women in Islam and has helped communities distinguish between the traditions, interpretations and realities of their religion.

In the field of politics, Maiga is a fervent defender of the adoption of laws that protect and promote gender equality. For this reason, she participated in advocacy actions that led to the approval of Law 052 in 2018, which introduced a 30% quota of women in nominated and elected positions in Mali. She also continues to campaign against gender-based violence – including domestic violence, female genital mutilation, early marriage and child marriage – while working to ensure that women have access to justice.

At first, Women and Human Rights functioned thanks to the volunteer work of its founders. However, thanks to their efforts, it has become a recognized feminist organization. This has allowed the NGO to access subsidies and training programs for the activists who participate in the outreach teams, which are dedicated to the promotion and protection of women’s rights.

As a technical advisor to the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family, Maiga now divides her efforts between her NGO and the various campaigns she directs to promote the emancipation of Malian women. In her view, women’s rights activists need to get closer to the authorities if they want to be more successful in their grassroots lobbying and advocacy activities, as well as in formulating proposals for the promotion and protection of human rights. “Political transitions are challenging. Our role is to work alongside [legislators], providing advice to promote the rights of Malian women,” the activist affirms.

“Today, we’re a feminist organization. We want to bring together all the associations that declare themselves to be in favor of the protection of women’s rights and gender equality. For me, this is an opportunity for all of us to speak with one voice and succeed in the fight for women’s rights,” she concludes.

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