By Staff Reporter
November 6, 2019 (Ezega.com) -- An Ethiopian women rights Advocate, scientist, and founder of KMG Ethiopia (Kembatti Menotti Gezzima-Tope) Bogaletch Gebre has passed away.
As her biography shows, Bogaletch Gebre was a victim of female genital mutilation at the age of 12 and was forbidden from joining formal education, which forced her to sneak out of her home to attend a missionary school that paved the way for her to be what she became.
Following her elementary years at the Missionary school, Bogalech Gebre attended various local schools as well as some prestigious Higher Education Institutions abroad.
In an interview with ETV, she said the trauma of FGM took her years to recuperate and she suffered complications from it years later.
It wasn’t during her youth years Bogaletch Gebre learned more about what had happened to her and her family because of FGM. At the time Bogalech was a graduate student in the United States.
When Bogaletch Gebre found out that FGM was needless and harmful practice, she became incensed. She eventually left her PhD program in epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1995 she returned to Kembata Tembaro, her hometown in Ethiopia.
In 1997 she and her younger sister started KMG, an indigenous Resident Charity Organization with the goal of helping to create an environment where the values and rights of women are recognized and where their talents and wisdom are nurtured.
The organization was founded with the two sister’s belief that if women are empowered and their talents nurtured, the lives of both men and women would improve.
Bogalech Gebre along with her sister began implementing their plans in the region of Kembatta - Tembaro. The organization they founded is now diversified its scope and operates in additional 24 of Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Regional State (SNNPRS) and Oromia district, reaching out to more than 481,289 direct and 2,859,500 indirect beneficiaries, 70% of whom are women.
The realization of their effort has protected many girls from going through lasting complications.
Bogalech Gebere believed and spoke about the need for a change and bringing together all communities, women, and men to make informed decisions.
In 2010, The Independent newspaper characterized her as "the woman who began the rebellion of Ethiopian women."
In particular, the Independent report praised her for KMG’s strong commitment to reduce the rate of bridal abductions in Kembatta and FGM.
Bogalech Gebre was awarded the 2005 North-South Prize and in 2007 the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.
Her 2013’s King Baudouin International Development Prize award was also one of the recognitions she received for her work.
Following her tenacious effort, KMG Ethiopia continues empowering women and making positive changes for women in Ethiopia to this day.
Ezega News conveys its condolence to the family, friends and followers of Bogalech Gebre.
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