Tanzania
Commonwealth Point of Light 27. Petrider Paul
Petrider Paul, representing Tanzania, is a gender equality activist who co-founded ‘Youth For Change’ in 2014 to tackle gender-based violence.
Petrider has delivered workshops to over 200 girls across Tanzania, supporting them on issues of female genital mutilation and child marriage. After seeing that 37 per cent of girls in Tanzania are married before the age of 18, she also launched an online advocacy initiative, ‘Girls Not Brides’. This campaign has reached over 10,000 people internationally, and Petrider is working with government officials to amend the Tanzanian ‘Law of Marriages Act’ and raise the age of marriage from 14 to 18.
The award for Petrider will be presented on 9th March at the British High Commissioner’s Residence, Dar es Salaam, during a Commonwealth Big Lunch by Sarah Cooke, UK High Commissioner in Tanzania.
Petrider said:
“I am honoured to receive the Points of Light Award from Her Majesty the Queen. I express my deepest gratitude for this recognition as a stepping stone for all the gender equality work I have done. This calls for more interventions towards investing in girls and women’s rights in Tanzania for the economy growth of our country.”
Sarah Cooke, UK High Commissioner in Tanzania, said:
“Congratulations Petrider on your award and thank you for working so hard to make Tanzania and the world a safer place for young girls.”
Find out more on Petrider’s Commonwealth Story:
Meet @petriderpaul. She’s a girls’ rights advocate working to end #GBV & harmful traditional practices like #childmarriage & #FGM, not only in Tanzania 🇹🇿 but across #ourCommonwealth. #EndFGM @QueensLeaders @Youth4ChangeTz @UKinTanzania @DFID_Inclusive pic.twitter.com/mrbDfSqqkW
— CHOGM London 2018 (@Commonwealth18) February 10, 2018