Mali: WLUML networker Mariam Diallo-Drame receives government Medal of Merit

It is our great pleasure to announce that Mariam Diallo-Drame, President of the "Association Femmes Leadership et Développement Durable" (AFLED) of Mali, and WLUML networker, has just received the Medal of Merit, awarded by the Government of Mali.

Mariam Diallo-Drame was born in 1981 and has been involved in politics since the age of twelve when she founded the Children’s Parliament of Mali. She previously worked with UNICEF and the Mali Ministry of Women and Children to fight child labor and trafficking. She has attended workshops on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and established a West African network that promotes respect for children’s rights.

Mariam Diallo, President of AFLED in Mali, and WLUML networker

After receiving a law degree in France and another degree in Political Science at the University of Montreal, she came back to Mali and worked at the Foundation for Children. In 2007, during the legislative elections in Mali, she helped train three women candidates in political debating. She joined the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics as Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Coordinator. As president of AFLED, Mariam participated to the prestigious President Obama’s Forum with Young African Leaders in 2010.

An interview with Mariam will be published here shortly.  In the meantime, we congratulate her for this recognition, and wish her all success in her work for women and children's rights in Mali.