Anna Aloys Henga


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.

Anna Aloys Henga
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

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. "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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