Amplifying the voice of Africa in the fight for justice
Meet Elizangela Xavier Da Trindade, Programme Analyst for UNDP in Mali, who shares how her job gives her a platform to empower young African innovators.
Since the age of 18, I’ve been passionate about fighting for justice and human rights, specifically with regards to the rights of women and children.
It was this passion that drove me towards activism and volunteering with an NGO in Sao Tome and Principe, my country. It was also this passion that drove me to study law and international relations; and it’s this same passion that drives me today in my role as a Programme Analyst for UNDP in Mali.
The Sustainable Development Goals of UNDP highlight the important role that rule of law plays in helping to build resilient, peaceful, just and inclusive societies, and I feel so grateful that I get to contribute to this area of the organization, especially within an African context.
The potential of Africa
As an African woman myself, I know the continent has a difficult history and that in many countries there is a lot of work to be done to uplift those in vulnerable communities, correct corruption and give the people a voice. An important thing I have realized is that, in Africa specifically, we need to be empowered to solve problems ourselves. The mindset of our people can’t be to just wait until someone else comes along to fix it. And we, as UNDP, can’t simply try to impose solutions onto the Global South that may have worked in the Global North. We need to address these issues in African ways. We need to collaborate with the people in the communities, and facilitate dialogue with them to promote innovative thinking.
This might look like a number of different things. It might look like offering businesses and organizations training on how to recognize and deal with corruption. Or it might involve developing programmes that give the youth a platform to be heard. It might look like meeting with politicians and leaders to educate them on the value that young people can bring to the nation. Or, with regards to my role specifically, we may need to work to ensure the law of the country is stabilized and that the people living in that country are benefiting from the law and not having their rights violated because of it.
I believe that when African countries start to realize they have the capability to innovate within their own context, their solutions will be so effective they’ll be implemented on a global scale, which is why our work here aims to drive entrepreneurial, out-of-the-box thinking and make space for young African innovators to thrive.
A shared mandate to build a better future
And this is what is so exciting about working with UNDP — that I get to work for justice, corruption, women and child rights. The opportunity for collaboration, the opportunity to teach and empower and the opportunity to learn. It’s about people from different countries, and different areas of work, coming together with the shared mandate of achieving these Sustainable Development Goals on a global scale, and we know that in order to do this we need to be networking, connecting, learning from each other and sharing our knowledge.
And the result of that is that, together, we are able to build something really important. I am lucky that my journey with UNDP gets to start in my continent of Africa, in Mali, and I cannot wait to see what we can achieve together over the next 10 years here, as we fight for justice as well as the rights of women and children.
“I can’t wait to see children being able to go to school again because there is no longer conflict happening in their community. Or see women in vulnerable or dangerous situations being protected by the laws of the country.”
I think it’s important to amplify Africa’s voice in the area of sustainable development — to show the innovations we can come up with and the impact we can make. And I am so proud to be a part of that process.
