Stéphanie Mbanzendore is a feminist activist from

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...

, who has been based in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

in the Netherlands since 2003. She is the founder of the organization

Burundian Women for Peace and Development Burundian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Burundi * A person from Burundi, or of Burundian descent. For information about the Burundian people, see Demographics of Burundi and Culture of Burundi. For specific Burund ...

, and the chairperson of the Multicultural Women Peacemakers Network, and is involved in several other women's rights and peace activism bodies.

Early life

Stéphanie Mbanzendore was born and raised in Burundi, where she was later educated and worked. Since 2003, she has been based in

in the Netherlands.

Career

Mbanzendore is the founder of the organization

(BWPD), based in the Netherlands, which targets women and young people, and is active in the fields of peace, conflict resolution and HIV/Aids prevention, particularly in Burundi, and also working with women in Rwanda and Congo. In 2009, BWPD built a Centre for Peace in Burundi, "to increase community involvement and build a place for sustainable dialogues, workshops and trainings to take place in a long-term fashion". In 2008, Burundian Women for Peace and Development (BWPD) was nominated for the Peace Prize, and they have been nominated by the

Ministry of Gender and Human Rights Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian m ...

in Burundi, and are a member of the National Steering Committee on

UN Resolution 1325 The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. Mbanzendore is chairperson of the Multicultural Women Peacemakers Network. She is an advisor to the

Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives around the ...

. Mbanzendore is a member of the

National Forum for Women in Burundi National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, representing the diaspora.

Personal life

Since 2003, she has lived in

, the Netherlands.

References

Living people Burundian women's rights activists Burundian women activists African feminists Burundian democracy activists Year of birth missing (living people) Burundian emigrants to the Netherlands {{Burundi-bio-stub