2020
Hilina Berhanu Degefa
- Age: 32
- | She/her/hers
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If half the women in the world tapped into their rage to fuel change, the results would be extraordinary.
- Hilina Berhanu Degefa
Bio
Hilina is a gender policy and feminist advocacy expert. She has spent over a decade advocating for the recognition and fulfillment of women’s rights through national, regional and global law and advocacy mechanisms. Hilina has served as a gender expert in human rights investigations, taught and conducted gender research at Higher educational institutions, led advocacy efforts under civil society organizations, and provided technical support for policy and law reform in Ethiopia. She is the first Ethiopian civil society representative to brief the UN Security Council. Hilina holds an LL.M in Law and Gender from SOAS, University of London, a B.A. in International Politics from ISS UiO, and LL. B. in Law from Addis Ababa University.
What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?
My lived experience as a woman of Ethiopia and path of willful transformation of social consciousness.
Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.
I am a feminist academic and activist, responsible for founding the Yellow Movement AAU, a youth-led feminist movement based in higher educational institutions of Ethiopia.
Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?
When I am not working, I busy myself by documenting the stories of exemplary women of Ethiopia and feminist foremothers under the Temsalet.org platform I manage.
Languages Spoken:
- Amharic (Advanced/Native)
- English (Advanced/Native)
- Arabic (Beginner)
- English (Advanced/Native)
Publications:
Speaks On:
- Women, peace and security
- conflict-related sexual violence and its impact on SRHR
Past Awards, Certifications, or Fellowships:
- Mo Ibrahim ‘Governance for Development in Africa’ Scholarship (2015-2016)
- Mandela Washington Fellowship – Civic Engagement Track (2015)
