Maïmouna Diouf, Senegal, represented children who fight for respect for the rights of the child.

Maïmouna lives in a suburb of the capital of Senegal, Dakar. Around one third of all Senegal’s children are not registered at birth. Maïmouna believes that even fewer children are registered in the neighbourhood where she lives. Since the age of eight, Maïmouna has been actively involved in an organisation that works for the rights of the child. In her opinion, registration at birth is one of the most important rights a child has.

“In our country, far too many children are not registered at birth. Without a birth certificate you can’t go to school, you can’t travel, you can’t even be a citizen in your own country.”
When Maïmouna is asked about her favourite things, she spreads some pieces of paper out on the ground. “This is probably my favourite thing, since I always carry it around with me.”
It is a pile of documents and papers on the rights of the child that she has collected. The group of which she is a member often meets to discuss the rights of the child, but also to conduct various campaigns in the neighbourhood. “We have organised our own registration campaigns. In one afternoon alone I managed to register 54 children in one
neighbourhood.”