I went into the government with fight against female genital mutilation.

Morissanda Kouyate, co-winner of the 2020 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize was in New York to receive his prize on 18 July, Nelson Mandela International Day. Dr. Kouyate is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea. Until recently, he was the Executive Director of the Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAC), and a leading figure in efforts to end violence against women in Africa, including female genital mutilation (FGM). He spoke with Africa Renewal's Franck Kuwonu on what the Prize means to him and what has changed since bagging the prize.

When the prize was announced two years ago, you told us how honored and grateful you were. Is this still the case?

I still am, and I want to thank the United Nations for such an honor. I am very grateful. But whenever I talk about the prize, I always have in mind the tragedy that befell those twin girls [who died after FGM] that got me started in the first place. Today, I still have the emotions I felt then. The drive to end Female Genital Mutilation has not changed. But I am concerned that such practices continue while they should be banned. At the same time, I am comforted that we made a lot of progress even though we had enormous difficulties at the start.

You've been committed to ending FGM for almost 40 years now. How will you summarize the journey?

Usually, people think of data, charts, diagrams, curves, etc. when it comes to showing results.

But when people ask me: what have you done during these forty years, what is the result? I like to point to two things, which, for me, give true value to the work we have collectively done.

First, I started as a defender of the rights of women and girls. Today, girls and women are colleagues in the struggle. I am no longer the one trying to protect. They are protecting themselves and I am in it with them.

For me, it is important that young girls organize themselves, in their classrooms, for instance, defend their peers, denounce any FGM attempts, and be ready to go to the police, if need be.

The second point is quite simple. In the beginning, we were hiding to raise awareness about FGM because there was an outcry against us, but, today, it is those who perform FGM that are hiding. The trend has therefore been reversed.

The Award was announced in 2020. How has it been like since then?

Many doors have opened, and the award has strengthened my resolve. The news of the award spread like wildfire and motivated other young...