A New Revolution. The Women Triumph!

My name is Quitéria Guirengane, I am a young Mozambican women and rights activist. I currently work for the Youth Parliament of Mozambique, a non-partisan social movement, in the capacity of a Program Officer. I have been affiliated to this movement since 2008.

My dream is to build a new society where people, men and women, are aware of their role in promoting democracy and good governance through political participation – and where this participation does not simply translate into affiliation to a political party but into demanding their rights, adhering to their responsibilities, accessing opportunities and having social respect. 

My struggle has been to persuade women to join this new women revolution and to transform the youth in a power in my country.

As part of the Youth Parliament I have been facing a lot of challenges, mostly because the political system is not yet prepared to engage different approaches and perspectives, such as freedom of expression, gender equity and non-partisan activism. In my society, women are expected to be in private spaces because, despite the high levels of cosmetic women political participation, the society still believes that political engagement is reserved for men.

That is why we, all the young Southern African women leaders, still have a steep mountain to climb in this great struggle for gender equity, in a context where women believe that they don’t have the same rights as men, and where men see women activism as a deviant behavior dangerous to their community values.

In recent years, I participated in several national and international conferences that allowed me to share experiences, build wide networks and get a new perspective on youth and women affairs. Among which were, by way of illustration, the Africamp in Kenya, the Lusophone Human Rights Camp in Angola both organized by OSISA, the Young African Leaders Forum with President Obama in United States of America and the Young African Women Forum with Michelle Obama in South Africa both organized by US Government, the Stockholm Internet Forum on Internet Freedom for Global Development in Sweden organized the Swedish Government and, the SADC Civil Society Conference recently. These moments were extremely important to learn that there are many other Young Leaders around the world deeply engaged in the struggle for the same principles and values as mine: building a democratic and vibrant generation.

On the other hand, the Youth Parliament of Mozambique is coordinating, in partnership with regional youth platforms across the continent, the organization of the African Youth Conference on Democracy and Good Governance in Mozambique next December, a conference that will join 200 young African leaders. So this will be a great opportunity to share experience and amplify voices regarding this event.

Accordingly, I expect that the Southern African Young Women Festival will bring a 'synergetic' effect, spreading our voices in Southern Africa in order to create a New Revolution, the Women Triumph! 

Sharing experiences we will charge our batteries with new energy to vibrantly mobilize, motivate and engage a huge number of young women and men in our countries decided to make the change happen today!

 Quitéria Guirengane