Maïmouna Déné, 43, is taking action on all fronts to end the discrimination she experiences first-hand as a woman with albinism.

Patient and self-sacrificing, she is leading a long-term collective battle against the ongoing challenges of “ignorance, social pressures and myths”. Initially involved in the Association Burkinabèpour l’Inclusion des Personnes Albinos [BurkinabéAssociation for the Integration of Albino People– ABIPA], where she worked for 10 years, shefounded AFAB in 2008 with other women withalbinism, “to respond to the specific challengeswe experience as women”.

The cause gives her life meaning and she says, ”As albinism is genetic, I’m also fighting for my children.” Through her involvement in the SWEDD project’s Stronger Together campaign, she is hoping to raise awareness among a wide audience about girls’ education and their access to economic opportunities and to sexual and reproductive health care, as well as the need to address against gender-based violence and harmful practices. AFAB has signed several agreements, including with the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health, the Slamazone Foundation in Ouagadougou, the Order of Malta’s French Hospitaller Service, and
the international NGO Light for the World, based in Austria.

One of its major achievements is “Albiweek”, an annual week run since June 2019 in support of those with albinism, to raise awareness among their families, friends and the general public. Four hundred and fifty albino women and parents of people with albinism have already received training from AFAB in the Centre, Centre-Est and Hauts Bassins regions. Two hundred and eighty of these people attended workshops in saponification (a chemical process used to make soap), 70 attended aviculture courses and 100 attended courses in personal development and self-esteem – the key to all future achievement.

Find out how the SWEDD project is changing lives in Burkina Faso and across sub-Saharan Africa in the book SWEDD in Action: Promoting Women's Full Potential here