ORLANDO, Fla. -- As thousands of UCF grads embark on a new chapter of their lives, one grad is gearing up for the honor of a lifetime.
- Jaha Dukureh is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
- 28-year-old is working to end female genital mutilation
- Dukureh also earned a master's degree from UCF
“It’s the Nobel Peace Prize’ and I was like ‘stop messing with me,’ and then he sent me a link to an article and I found out it was true,” Jaha Dukureh said.
At just 28 years old Dukureh has already been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, and now she’s nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work to end female genital mutilation.
“I didn’t do it for any of the accolades or recognition that I’m getting,” Dukureh said. “I did it because it’s something that affected me and now we’re here.”
Dukureh was born in Gambia, and at just one-week-old FGM was performed on her.
The procedure is a violent practice where the external genital organs are partially or completely removed, most often, without anesthesia.
A documentary produced by The Guardian called “The Girl Who Said No to FGM” has been made about Dukureh’s story. It details how her identity was stripped again when she was forced into marriage at the age of 15. At that point, she was cut a second time.
“FGM or child marriage has never been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In my country, I am the first person to ever be nominated for the Nobel Peace prize,” Dukureh said.
Since starting her activism work, Dukureh has helped usher in the ban of FGM in Gambia. It’s a country where 56 percent of 14-year-old girls have been mutilated, according to UNICEF.
Dukureh says her goal is get other countries across the African continent to ban the practice, which dates back to ancient Egypt, but has no scientific or health benefits.
“If I win it this year I’ll probably become the youngest African to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. So that in itself is incredible, so it’s not about me it’s about the issue,” she said.
Dukureh is a modest person which could explain why she didn’t tell anyone she was talking online classes at UCF to obtain a masters in non-profit management.
“No one knew I was in school or graduating which is the crazy part,” Dukureh said.
She’s a fighter, and says she won’t stop until no child has to suffer what she went through.
But most importantly, she wants to be a role model for her children especially her 8-year-old daughter.
“I don’t want my daughter to ever think she has any limitations in life,” she said. “I want her to grow up in a world where she can be whatever she likes and her gender doesn’t determine what she becomes.”