Madjiguène Cissé (26 September 1951 – 15 May 2023) was a Senegalese activist who was the spokeswoman of the

undocumented immigrant Undocumented may refer to: * ''Undocumented'' (2010 film), a horror thriller * ''Undocumented'' (2016 film), a drama short film *'' The Undocumented'', a documentary film by Marco Williams See also * Undocumented feature, in software releases * ...

s movement and founder of the Women's Network for Sustainable Development in Africa.

Biography

Cissé was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. Her parents were illiterate when they moved from the countryside to Dakar. Her ambitious and progressive father learned to read and got his driving license. At his request, Cissé started attending school in 1958. In 1968, she took part in demonstrations. After she obtained the ''

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'', she started her

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

. In 1974, she was granted a two-year scholarship to study in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

, Germany. Cissé subsequently went back to Dakar and worked as a German teacher in a high school. In 1993, as a mother of three, she stayed in Paris for her daughter's studies. Although she had a legal residence permit, she discovered and joined the undocumented workers movement in March 1996 and became one of its spokespeople. In 2000, she went back to Dakar where she co-founded the Women's Network for Sustainable Development in Africa (, REFDAF) and became its director. The network aims at improving women's living standards through education, support actions to develop employment, and granting

microcredit Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral (finance), collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credi ...

s. Cissé died on 15 May 2023, at the age of 71.

Published works

* ''Parole de sans-papiers'', 1999. * ''Papiere für alle. Die Bewegung der Sans Papiers in Frankreich'', A Verlag, Hamburg, 2002, .

Awards

*1998:

International League for Human Rights The International League for Human Rights (ILHR) is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City. Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human righ ...

's Carl von Ossietzky Medal, alongside ''Les Collectifs de sans-papiers'' *2011: Markgräfin-Wilhelmine,

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

city prize

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cisse, Madjiguene 1951 births 2023 deaths Senegalese activists Senegalese women activists Senegalese educators Senegalese women educators Germanists Women linguists 20th-century educators 21st-century educators People from Dakar 20th-century women educators 21st-century women educators