Hel(l)en Kijo-Bisimba (born 1954) is a
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
activist in Tanzania. She was the executive director of Legal and Human Rights Center until she retired in 2008.
Life
Kijo-Bisimba was born in 1954 in the
Kilimanjaro Region
Kilimanjaro Region (''Mkoa wa Kilimanjaro'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital and largest city is the municipality of Moshi. With a HDI of 0.613, Kilimajaro is one among the most developed regions ...
in Tanzania.
She went to school in the Tanga region at
Korogwe
Korogwe is a town in Tanzania, with a population of 56,282 in 2012. It is the main centre of Korogwe District, which is within the Tanga Region.
Overview
The town is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Tanga and has a cathedral church dedicat ...
High school where she was deputy head girl. She felt unfairly victimised when she was accused of sending an insulting letter to the head teacher. The resulting suspension shaped her feeling of justice when she had to admit to the deed despite her innocence.
[
Despite this setback at school she went on to university in ]Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
where she graduated in 1985 and then stayed on to gain a Masters in Law in 1994. She went on to gain a doctorate in law from the University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
Female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
. FGM was made illegal in Tanzania in 1998 but twenty years after this it was estimated that 10% of girls still suffer this treatment. in 2001 she earned a (2008) "Woman of Courage" award from the US Embassy after she issued a public statement in opposition to the government. She was the first woman to make a public statement when she was objecting to the number of people killed in Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
after election protests.[
Kijo-Bisimba resigned as the executive director of Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) in 2018. She was replaced by ]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 Leg ...
who was recognised in 2019 as a Woman of Courage.Kangi Lugola
, also romanized as Kanki, was a after '' Antei'' and before '' Joei.'' This period spanned the years from March 1229 to April 1232. The reigning emperor was .
Change of era
* 1229 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of eve ...
noted that he could not understand why Kijo-Bisimba had not been honoured by her country.[
]
Personal life
Kijo-Bisimba has four children and she is a regular church go-er.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kijo-Bisimba, Hellen
1954 births
Living people
Tanzanian women lawyers
Alumni of the University of Warwick
Weruweru Secondary School alumni
People from Kilimanjaro Region