Defending the rights of nomadic women
The Touareg from Mali are one of the original peoples of the Sahara desert in western Africa and their language, the Tamasheq, is one of the most ancient languages on the continent. Mariama Walet Abdourhamane, representing the Touareg, comes from the fabled Timbuktu region. She came to Geneva recently to take part in a fellowship training program for indigenous peoples organized by the UN Human Rights office.
The Touareg are nomads, experts at living in the desert. They move constantly to find pastures for their animals making it difficult to accurately assess their numbers. Nonetheless, they are estimated to be about 1.2 million people.
Mariama is involved in many projects in her community. One of them aims to help her people to “preserve its cultural identity while participating in the political and economical life of the country”. Because they are nomads, the Touareg community is not represented in the Mali Government, which makes it difficult for their interests to be given sufficient weight. Mariama believes that the Touareg are denied their basic rights. “Activities on human rights issues concerning the Touareg may be considered as a desire of independence or rebellion”, she says.
In the Touareg community, the mothers educate the children. There are no text books: education for the Touareg is a purely oral tradition. Mariama’s organization, Tin Hinan Mali, works for the nomadic women, who are the most vulnerable members of the community. She has also coordinated meetings on human rights and has collaborated with the UN Human Rights office to organize educational activities for the indigenous communities of Timbuktu.
When she returns to her desert community, Mariama plans to raise awareness of the rights of indigenous peoples with a special focus on children. She also has in mind what she describes as, “a form of tourism more respectful of the environment and local life”. The Touareg’s constant contact with nature makes environmental preservation a priority.
5 February 2010