Farida Bemba Nabourema

Biography

Farida Nabourema is a political activist blogger and writer, recently emerging as the unequivocal voice of Togo’s pro-democracy movement. Farida has been a fearless advocate for democracy and human rights in Togo since she was a teenager. Through over 400 articles written on her blog and other sites, Farida denounces corruption, dictatorship and promotes a form of progressive Pan Africanism. In 2014, Farida published a book in French titled “La Pression de oppression” (The Pressure of Oppression) in which she discussed the different forms of oppression that people face throughout Africa and most particularly in Togo and highlighted the need for youth and women to be politically engaged and fight for democracy.
Farida is also the Executive Director of the Togolese Civil League, an NGO that promotes democracy, rule of law and human rights in Togo through civil resistance, civic education, and advocacy. Prior to taking that position, Farida founded the Faure Must Go movement in 2011 at the age of 20 where she organized Togolese youths to stand against the dictatorial regime of the Gnassingbe which has been ruling Togo for the past 52 years, making it the oldest military regime in Africa. Faure Must Go has become the slogan for the civil resistance movement in Togo of which Farida is one of the most well-known leaders.
Farida was listed among the 100 Most Reputable People in Africa and the 100 Most Influential Youth in Africa in 2018 and has been recently nominated among the 100 Most Influential African Women in 2019. Time Magazine listed her among the people keeping the dream of democracy alive and her story of years of activism as a young woman and life in exile was featured in CNN.
Farida’s TED Talk video “Is your country at risk of becoming a dictatorship “ released in March 2018 has been viewed over 1.5 million times on Ted.com and YouTube.
Farida currently works as the Engagement and Collaboration coordinator of Africans Rising, a pan-African movement which supports citizen movements of Africans and African descents to demand justice , peace and dignity through nonviolent civic action.