BWA Presents 2024 Human Rights Award and Special Citation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(LAGOS, NIGERIA – July 17, 2024) In the closing General Council session of the 2024 Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Annual Gathering hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, the BWA presented the 2024 Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award to Julie Mariama Sesay. Established in 2006, the annual award is given by the BWA for significant and effective activities to secure, protect, restore, or preserve human rights.

A victim of female genital mutilation at the age of 10, Sesay has dedicated her life to advancing human rights for women and girls in Sierra Leone and across Africa. For more than three decades, she has worked tirelessly to bring issues of gender-based violence out of the shadows and into national consciousness.

As program manager for the Baptist Women’s Union of Sierra Leone, she designed projects like the “Breaking the Silence on Domestic Violence” initiative which was implemented in six chiefdoms in northern Sierra Leone. Her awareness-raising and activism has led to changes in policing, community bylaws, and national legislation. In her role as president of the Baptist Women’s Union of West Africa, she guided the national women’s unions in each of the 11 countries in the west African sub-region to develop roles and initiatives specifically focused on addressing gender-based violence.

“Faithful to God’s call, Rev. Sesay has effected change on an individual and national level, improving the safety, health, and economic stability of women throughout her country,” said Elijah Wanje, BWA Vice President and Awards Committee Member. “With this award, the Baptist World Alliance honors Julie Mariama Sesay for her tremendous work to advance the human rights of women and girls in Sierra Leone and beyond.”

Caring deeply about the holistic development of women and girls, Sesay has also created numerous programs to promote economic stability, public health, and legal access. In her home country of Sierra Leone, she ran three training centers that equipped women with practical skills in tailoring, catering, business, crafts, and literacy. She led education efforts that empowered women and girls with knowledge about their rights as well as healthy practices to protect against malaria, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was honored as a “COVID-19 Heroine” by the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for her efforts to secure the release of women who were detained for breaking lockdown orders to obtain clean water for their families.

“At a tender age, I started working on human rights issues, and it is my desire to see that women and girls are liberated from all forms of abuse for it is liberty that God Almighty wants for us according to 2 Corinthians 3:17,” said Sesay. “I know this award is a call to more action, and I want to make a significant difference in our world helping communities to take action to reverse these negative trends. The award is an investment to more activism and advocacy – to build a dynamic structure, a counseling and drop-in shelter to address issues of violence against women and girls and ensure essential services for survivors of violence are available. To especially assist rural women and girls victimized by poverty and societal norms to support themselves in alleviating poverty and in enhancing their dignity.”

As part of the 10th Baptist International Conference on Theological Education focused on the theme “Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Becoming Agents of Peace,” the Awards Committee also presented a special citation to Ernest Adu-Gyamfi for his peacemaking efforts in Ghana. Adu-Gyamfi currently serves as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Peace Council (NPC) of Ghana. In this role, he has led the NPC in the development of the Presidential Candidate’s Peace Pact in 2020, a commitment to peace signed by all aspiring presidential candidates to accept the outcome of the elections without pursuit of violence and to seek any desired redress within the court of law.

Adu-Gyanmfi has also been a key peace broker in the Bawku interethnic conflict and has led NPC efforts to seek resolution for over 300 chieftaincy and land litigation cases across Ghana. The BWA affirms his efforts to equip others for peacemaking as he engages university student leaders with training against violent extremism, fishermen and women in counterterrorism skills for their work on high seas, and resourcing Queen mothers for peace advocacy within their communities.

“I am really grateful first to my God and then to all those who nominated me. I’m grateful to the BWA. I’m grateful to the Ghana Baptist Convention for giving me the platform to be of service to my country,” said Adu-Gyamfi. “I’m grateful to all of you who have been a support to our ministry and to what God is calling us to do.”

The award selection process was led by BWA Awards Committee Chair Thomas Klammt, Committee Vice-Chair Fernando Brandão, and committee members Kwame Adzam, Samson Fatokun, Pau Khan Khai, Sylvester King, Harry Lucenay, M.D.R. Mayuranjana, Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, Lina Sawan, Vee Tetseo, Elijah Wanje, and Anslem Warrick as well as BWA President Tomás Mackey and General Secretary Elijah Brown.

Next year the Baptist World Alliance will present both the Congress Quinquennial Human Rights Award and the BWA–Kowloon International Baptist Church Evangelism Award. To learn more about these 2025 awards, visit BaptistWorld.org/awards.

2024 Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award Recipient Julie Mariama Sesay was recognized at the 2024 BWA Annual Gathering in Lagos, Nigeria, for her decades of advocacy on behalf of women and girls. Also pictured are BWA First Vice President Karl Johnson, General Secretary Elijah Brown, President Tomás Mackey, Vice President Elijah Wanje, and Awards Committee Chair Thomas Klammt.