Dinah Musindarwezo

Dinah Musindarwezo is a Rwandan feminist and pan-African women's rights activist. She is director of policy and communications at Womankind Worldwide, and the former Executive Director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)

In 2010 Musindarwezo was working as a gender equality specialist for Norwegian People's Aid in Rwanda.

In 2012 she became executive director of FEMNET, based in Kenya. As FEMNET executive director, she expressed outrage in June 2017 at Tanzanian president John Magufuli's call to exclude pregnant students from education:

With all the work we have done to emancipate Africa’s girl-child from the shackles of discrimination and violation, a sitting president turns around to "re-victimize" and treat their situation like a terrible infectious disease which other girls must be protected from.

In February 2018 she convened a two-day meeting in Addis Ababa for African women's rights activists to strategise ahead of the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Musindarwezo resigned from FEMNET in 2018. She became director of policy and communications at Womankind Worldwide, a UK-based organisation supporting women's rights groups in Africa and Asia. There she has highlighted the gendered effect of the debt of developing countries, and on the progressive exclusion of civil society organizations from development financing discussion in the aftermath of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. In April 2020 she called on the African Union to negotiate debt repayment delays for member states, to allow African countries to concentrate on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quotes

• For us girls, there were no praises, just criticism
  • with Dinah Musindarwezoeyala.blo(May 16 ,2020)
• As African women, we don’t have to live up to other people’s expectations. We too can question the status quo
  • | Dinah Musindarwego said eyala.blog (May16,2020)

• I’m a human being; there isn’t any number of cows that will determine my value
  • | Dinah Musindarwego saideyala.blog (May16,2020)

• It’s possible to question cultural practices if they don’t align with our values
  • |Dinah Musindarwego said eyala.blog (May16,2020)
• In Rwanda, there is good political will in terms of gender equality and women’s rights thanks to the President who advances women’s rights and is a believer in gender equality.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)
• Actually in most countries, women wish to get half of what Rwanda has.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)
• When we see African Union putting women rights at the centre of their deliberations, it has taken our push and advocacy over previous years.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)
• Gender rights and women rights ought to be understood and implemented holistically.  You cannot ask women what right to have; they should enjoy all rights, rights to their reproductive health, leadership, education, food among other rights.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)
• Issues of sexual reproductive health continue to be a major challenge in Africa, especially issues that regard safe abortions, where there are issues brought about by religion, patriarchy, culture among other aspects.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)
• We continue to see women miss out on human rights due to lack of due attention.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)
• We need to have men understand gender equality and cease to be oppressors and perpetrators. This will increase the involvement of human rights affairs.
  • AU Summit tasked on women's rights, The NewTimes(July 13, 2016)