Committed since 2006 to the fight against violence against children, unwanted pregnancies and STIs, Awa has been active alongside several organizations such as the Youth Action Movement of the Burkinabe Association for Family Welfare , the Youth Club for the Fight against HIV / AIDS in schools and the Association of Women Lawyers of Burkina Faso (AFJ/ BF).
Previously coordinator of the Community of Action for the Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Burkina Faso (CAPSSR-BF), her actions were more focused on advocacy for the effectiveness of the sexual rights of women and girls and especially for the fight against Gender-Based Violence. She cites the outcome of the plea for the improvement of conditions and the streamlining of procedures for women’s and girls’ access to the safe abortion service in the Burkinabe penal code.
Holder of a master’s degree in private law and a master’s degree in project management, Awa works at Speak Up Africa as an advocacy officer and facilitates the implementation of the Voix Essentiel project in Burkina Faso with the aim of facilitating the involvement of women’s organizations in public health decision-making bodies.
Prior to joining the Speak Up Africa team, Papa Momar Sokhna worked for two years as an economist at the Directorate General of Planning and Economic Policies, at the Ministry of Economy, Cooperation and Planning. At Speak Up Africa, he serves as an Associate Research and Policy Analyst and his work is focused on action research and supporting the organization’s various programs.
He holds an engineering degree from the Community Development and Training Department of the National School of Applied Economics and has experience in planning and monitoring public policies through his participation at the Technical Committee of the Territorial Conference of the Dakar and Kedougou Regions and the Regional Monitoring Committee for the Sustainable Development Goals Indicators. Papa Momar Sokhna also worked in the Malnutrition Committee on nutrition-sensitive and cross-cutting territorial planning and with USAID GOLD on the integrated good governance barometer.
September 2020, Franz joined Speak Up Africa as an advocacy officer on the »Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative ». Then a year later, in 2021, he became National Coordinator in Benin, with the main mission of engaging government representatives, political decision-makers at national and sub-national level, civil society players, the private sector and the media on issues relating to malaria, neglected tropical diseases and health research and development, not forgetting gender equality.
Franz holds a Master’s degree in International Project Management from the Université Senghor Alexandrie – Cotonou campus, and has over ten years’ practical experience in the design, steering and evaluation of development projects and grant management.
He has worked in non-governmental organizations, companies and even international organizations such as UNDP Benin, RITIS GROUP, WANEP Benin, and has developed an enriching experience in community mobilization, promotion of children’s and women’s rights, monitoring and analysis of public policies, advocacy, mobilization of resources and investments, coordination of partnerships, political commitment, not forgetting monitoring of governance and elections. He has a good knowledge of the procedures of several donors.
Franz received the Best Civic Engagement Award at the Benin Yali Alumni Association (BYAA) Awards in 2020 for his outstanding leadership as a Certified Civic Leadership Alumni of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) program, and for implementing high-impact community projects with direct funding from the U.S. State Government
Roukiattou Ouédraogo is a communicator with more than 15 years of experience in the development world. She joined Speak Up Africa in December 2020 as an advocacy officer for the “Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative”.
She is passionate about networking and dialogue for constructive collaborations in favor of communities and therefore joined Speak Up Africa’s team with a goal of contributing to a greater mobilization and involvement of the private sector in the fight against malaria in Burkina Faso. She previously worked for several not-for-profit organizations before being a communication and advocacy officer at SPONG (Permanent Secretariat of NGOs) for 10 years, one of the largest civil society organization in Burkina Faso. This or
During her professional career, she has had the opportunity to lead and participate in advocacy activities and campaigns at national, regional and international level on various issues such as health, access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation, social protection and youth employment among others. She holds of a Master 1 in Communication from the University of Ouagadougou and is currently completing a professional degree in political science at Thomas Sankara University.
Bara started his journey in audiovisual communication in 2003. Over the years within companies or as a free-lancer, he has perfected his savoir-faire in web and multimedia DTP. His passion for image, innovation, better access to health and education, led him to work almost exclusively in these areas, where he further polished his skills in France, the Caribbean and Senegal.
For the past eight years, he served as Pedagogical director and trainer at Africatic Education Group in Senegal, as a Graphic designer and trainer at AP-HP (Paris Hospitals), and as a volunteer at New-Health. Bara is now based in Senegal, where he joined the Speak Up Africa team, determined to participate in improving public health on the continent.
Prior to joining Speak Up Africa in March 2015, Angelo was Creative Director at AK Project. With 10 years of experience in the production of communication support. Within the communication team of Speak Up Africa, Angelo oversees and creates the visuals to highlight the campaigns and actions carried out by the organization.
Passionate about photography and nature, he knows how to translate the values of the organization and relay them through his creativity.
After serving as Project Officer and strategic communication focal point within her team at the WHO AFRO regional office, Kadidiatou Madina Bah joined Speak Up Africa in May 2023 as Communication Officer.
In this capacity, under the direction of the Communication Manager, she plays a key role in ensuring the visibility of projects through innovative and strategic communication campaigns aimed at raising public awareness.
With a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Université de Montréal and a certificate in Marketing Management from HEC Montréal, she brings to her position expertise in marketing project management, strategic communications, media relations and events.
From 2002 to 2008, Mame Cheikh worked as a press cartoonist in Senegal for “Le Matin”, “The Office” and “Sunulab”. In 2008, he moved to Belgium to obtain an infographics degree and a master’s degree in visual communication. He then worked for a year at Technicode communication before joining the communication’s team at Speak Up Africa.
Roxane Fian joined Speak Up Africa in January 2020 and works as a Program Associate. As a professional in communication, passionate about development issues, she has participated in the development of strategic communication materials, for several campaigns as a Production Associate before. Roxane holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information and Communication Sciences from the Higher Institute of Communications (ISCOM), a Faculty of the Catholic University of West Africa in Abidjan (UCAO). During her university years, Roxane specialized in sustainable development issues, notably on the theme of non-sewered sanitation.
Anta joined Speak Up Africa after 9 years of experience in customer relationship management and administration. Prior to joining the team, Anta focused on the organization of fundraising and networking events as well as the supervision of castings for commercial film productions.
At Speak Up Africa, Anta is responsible for organizing all of the administrative activities that facilitate the smooth running of the office. This includes the organizing of people, information and all other resources. She makes sure the office equipment is maintained, relevant records are up to date and that all administration processes work effectively. Anta creates and maintains a pleasant work environment while ensuring high levels of organizational effectiveness, communication and safety.