Women dignity is not negotiable.

Ms. Dukureh, the UN Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, is now in the General Assembly Hall.


“I stand before you as a survivor of a system that told me my worth was tied to my silence, my obedience, my ability to endure. To endure female genital mutilation, to endure going from one marriage to the next when I was still only a child,” she said.

“But, I did not just endure and survive – I resisted. I fought for my freedom, for my daughter’s freedom and for the freedom of all women and girls who deserve more than to survive. They deserve the right to thrive.”

‘We will not be silenced’

Because for all women and girls, poverty is more than a lack of money, she explained. It is a lack of power. When a girl is denied education because her family cannot afford school fees, when a mother cannot escape an abusive marriage because she has no financial independence, when women’s labour on farms, in homes, in markets goes unrecognised and unpaid, this is not just economic inequality. It is a denial of dignity, and for all women and girls, dignity is not negotiable.

“The march forward for all women and girls’ rights is facing pushback, but we will not turn back,” she said. “We will not be silenced.”

“From the villages of Africa to the halls of power, from farms to boardrooms, from classrooms to global stages, all women and girls are here, and we will keep marching because dignity is not negotiable, equality is not optional and freedom for all women and girls is not a dream. It is a demand, and we will not stop until it is met.”