Fatou Baldeh MBE - Laureation
In the name and on behalf of the Senate, I have the privilege to present for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University, honoris causa, Fatou Baldeh MBE.
It is a profound privilege to celebrate today a woman whose courage, scholarship and unwavering commitment to justice have transformed lives in Scotland, The Gambia, and far beyond.
Fatou Baldeh is a human rights activist, educator and campaigner whose life’s work has been dedicated to the protection of women and girls from violence and discrimination - and to the eradication of female genital mutilation. She has turned lived experience into leadership, personal trauma into collective empowerment, and academic knowledge into sustained social change.
Fatou Baldeh is a graduate of Queen Margaret University. She completed an MSc in Sexual and Reproductive Health with our Institute for Global Health and Development in 2013. Her time with us did not simply equip her with academic expertise; it strengthened her conviction that education can be a powerful force for transformation and social justice - a conviction she has carried into every stage of her career and journey as an activist.
Following graduation, Fatou worked with the Dignity Alert Research Forum in Edinburgh, supporting initiatives to advance women’s rights and human rights. In 2015, she was appointed Director of the organisation, a role through which she helped to amplify the voices of marginalised women and strengthen advocacy for minority ethnic communities across Scotland.
In 2013, Fatou took the courageous step of speaking publicly about female genital mutilation in Scotland - challenging denial and stigma, and demanding accountability. The following year, she gave evidence to the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Scottish Parliament, setting out the concrete measures required to prevent girls and women from being subjected to FGM. Her testimony helped to shape policy, professional practice and public understanding, positioning Scotland as a leader in prevention and survivor‑centred safeguarding.
Following this, Fatou worked with QMU and MY Voice, a Scottish Government funded participatory action research project, which contributed towards Scotland's national action plan to prevent and eradicate FGM. After years of working with Scottish communities and organisations supporting Black and Minority Ethnic populations, Fatou returned to The Gambia in 2018. There, she founded Women in Liberation and Leadership (WILL) - an organisation dedicated to transforming and protecting the lives and rights of women and girls. Under her leadership, this organisation has become a powerful force for grassroots advocacy, survivor support, and systemic change.
In partnership with The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, Women in Liberation and Leadership documented the testimonies of women who suffered sexual and gender‑based violence during the 22‑year dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. Through this work, Fatou ensured that women’s experiences were not hidden from the historical record, and that justice, dignity and healing was central to national recognition and reconciliation.
Fatou’s impact has been recognised both nationally and internationally. In 2020, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her outstanding advocacy for Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Scotland. She has since received numerous awards celebrating her leadership and moral courage, including the International Women of Courage Award from the United States Government's Department of State and the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy’s Women’s Rights Award.
In 2025, her global influence was acknowledged when TIME magazine named her one of its Women of the Year and included her in its list of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’. Her work to end female genital mutilation has been publicly recognised by leaders, institutions and universities across the world - including Harvard University in the USA - and in October 2025 she was honoured by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, recognising her instrumental role in safeguarding The Gambia’s national ban on female genital mutilation.
Fatou is also part of the Girls Opportunity Alliance Network, which is an initiative of the Obama Foundation led by Michelle Obama. This network brings together global women leaders working to improve education and opportunities for girls, and her involvement has seen her participate in sessions with the former first lady, alongside other global leaders sharing their experiences and leadership insights.
What distinguishes Fatou’s leadership is not only its reach, but its humanity. She leads with empathy rooted in lived experience, with intellectual rigour shaped by education, and with a moral clarity that inspires trust, courage and collective action. She builds bridges between communities and institutions, between policy and practice, and between local action and global change.
Her work embodies the values at the heart of Queen Margaret University - social justice, inclusion, equality, global engagement and partnership, and the transformative power of education. It also resonates deeply with our institutional heritage, shaped by women whose commitment to education was inseparable from their commitment to social reform and women’s rights.
For graduate of our Institute for Global Health and Development and all of the QMU graduates here today, Fatou Baldeh stands as a powerful example of what it means to take learning beyond the University - to apply knowledge to strengthen equality and humanity, and to use education as a tool to challenge injustice, protect the vulnerable and make a tangible positive difference in the world.
Chancellor, in recognition of her sustained, outstanding contribution to education, human rights and public service, I have much pleasure in inviting you to confer upon Fatou Baldeh the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University.
