Across Africa, there are passionate activists and campaigners making great strides in the fight against poverty and inequality. They are knowledgeable, strong, and willing to put themselves at the forefront in the battle against the corruption, bad governance, and abuse of rights, by building partnerships – and helping others help themselves.
One of these outstanding activists is Sally Dura, a born leader with 10 years experience in election processes, gender-based violence prevention, HIV/AIDS, and many other areas. Sally is fighting for women’s rights and equality—not just in her home country of Zimbabwe, but across several other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Marginalisation knows no borders, regardless of colour, race, and economic status. We need to transform the lives of all women and I believe it is everyone’s responsibility,” she says.
Sally has achieved more than was expected from a young girl raised in the small town of Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Raised by her grandmother in a home broken apart by domestic violence, her childhood was far from idyllic. This experience solidified Sally’s determination to stand up for women who suffered the same kind of abuse.
Sally has been forming vital partnerships with women’s groups as far afield as Nigeria and Sudan. These partnerships allow her to train women in leadership skills and political lobbying, giving them the skills to take on their own governments and demand what’s right.
The support, mentorship, and resources they receive from activists like Sally, has empowered women from all over Africa and helped them to become incredible leaders.
While Sally knows that individual issues may differ from country to country, at their heart is a common truth: people are not being listened to by their governments. Until people partner with each other and stand up to make this happen, inequality can’t be beaten.
“The training we offered in these countries was aimed at creating a relationship where leaders do not see the electorate as just votes, but as partners who are there to make their role as leaders easier,” she says.
In many ways, she’s right. It might be easy for governments to shrug off disapproval from western leaders, but it’s harder to ignore the disapproval of their own people— especially when they are collected, informed, and not willing to sit by. That knowledge is what drives Sally to keep empowering others.
Sally wants to continue encouraging people to go out into their communities, countries and further afield and tell anyone in power who isn’t doing what they should to fight poverty, that enough is enough.