SALC extends its hearty congratulations to a prolific young woman human rights defender, Rebeca Gyumi, for receiving the well-deserved UN Human Rights Award for 2018 in recognition of her work in advancing the rights of girl children. Rebeca is the founder and director of Msichana Initiative in Tanzania, an organisation dedicated to advancing the rights of the girl child to education. Rebeca has been very active in the fight against child marriage, and took the government to court to challenge marriage laws in Tanzania that allow for child marriage. A High court judgment in 2016 struck down the law, with the government being ordered to change the law within a year. Although the government has since appealed against the decision, Rebeca continues the fight for emancipation of the girl child, running empowerment and awareness programs for women and girls in schools and rural communities in Tanzania. Rebeca is also a recipient of the UNICEF Global Goal Award (2016) and was named Woman of the Year 2016 by New African Woman magazine.
