Fanta Ongoiba: 2013

Fanta Ongoiba is a black African Muslim woman from Mali. A passionate HIV/ AIDS activist and advocate, Fanta serves as the Executive Director of Africans in Partnership against AIDS (APAA). Fanta partnerd with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (AIDS Bureau) to produce an educational resource entitled “Islam and HIV/AIDS”.  As a female Muslim Imama who takes pride in opening dialogue on sex and healthy sexuality with traditional and Muslim communities, Fanta is a role model, who shatters the myth that Muslim women are meek, asexual and uncomfortable around issues of sexuality, or that Muslim religiosity necessitates a social conservatism.