Djingarey Maiga
Djingarey Maiga is the coordinator of the NGO Femmes et Droits Humains who aims at empowering women and girls by educating them about their human rights in various domains. Founded in 2000, F&DH promotes the socioeconomic, civil and political rights of women; and under Djingarey’s guidance, it committed to supporting female candidates in the 2009 communal elections and increasing the number of women in elected office.
In the community of Kati, Mali, Djingarey Maiga dedicates herself to increasing women’s participation and visibility in local politics and advancing human rights. Djingarey is also the initiator of the Malian Feminist Forum.
Following the 2012 military coup that ousted the previous president, Amadou Toumani Toure, Mali has experienced significant instability and upheaval, especially in the north of the country. The security situation is fragile even though a new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was elected in 2013, and a peace agreement was signed in 2015. This instability severely affects the work and capacity of human rights defenders in Mali, as a climate of fear and insecurity is pervasive, especially in the north of the country where the situation remains unstable. Armed groups, who are both pro- and anti-government, have launched attacks against state security forces, UN peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, HRDs, and ordinary civilians. HRDs who document and report on issues of human rights abuses face threats, intimidation, and physical attacks. Those who have accused State forces of having committed human rights violations are particularly at risk and journalists find it hard to access information about the human rights situation, and they are dissuaded from covering difficult topics through threats and harassment.
