Fatima Maada Bio is the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone. She started in the entertainment industry where she clinched Best Actress in several movies including the award-winning film “Mirror Boy.” She is an accomplished campaigner advocating for women, girls, and gender equality issues from the grassroots level right to the United Nations. Her flagship campaign “Hands Off Our Girls” has reduced sexual and gender-based violence (SGVB), early marriage, teenage pregnancy, and child trafficking, increased awareness of HIV, AIDS and cancer, improved access to justice, and provided free sanitary pads for school children.
She championed the adoption of the World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence. Her passion for improved healthcare outcomes motivated her to transform Sierra Leone’s 34 Military Hospital, increasing its capacity from 70 beds to 600 beds, along with the creation of a Centre of Excellence for SGBV Survivors. In 2023, UNAIDS appointed her Champion for Adolescent Girls and Young Women.
As a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, she has set herself the goal of advancing the campaign by engaging state and non-state actors to develop a roadmap for Sierra Leone’s zero waste journey. Fatima Maada Bio holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arts, London.