Graça Machel
*Graça Machel was born on this date in 1945. She is a Black Mozambican politician and humanitarian.
Graça Sembène was born 17 days after her father's death, the youngest of six children, in rural Incadine, Gaza Province (modern-day Mozambique). She attended Methodist mission schools before gaining a scholarship to the University of Lisbon in Portugal, where she studied German and became involved in independence issues. Machel speaks French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, and her native language, Xitsonga. Simbine returned to Portuguese East Africa in 1973, joining the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and working as a schoolteacher. Following Mozambique's independence in 1975, she was appointed Mozambique's first Minister of Education and Culture.
Machel received the 1995 Nansen Medal from the United Nations for her longstanding humanitarian work, particularly for refugee children. Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. She was the chancellor of the University of Cape Town between 1999 and 2019. During her tenure, the number of students enrolled in primary and secondary schools rose from about 40 percent of all school-aged children to over 90 percent for males and 75 percent for females. Machel is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate for equitable and sustainable development in Africa at the highest levels.
2007 Nelson Mandela, Machel, and Desmond Tutu convened The Elders. The group works on thematic as well as geographically specific subjects. The Elders' priority issue areas include the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the Korean Peninsula, Sudan, and South Sudan, sustainable development, and equality for girls and women. Following her retirement from the Mozambique ministry, Machel produced the groundbreaking United Nations report on the impact of armed conflict on children. From 2008 to 2009, she was a member of the Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems. She was president of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 2012. In January 2016, she was appointed to the Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child. That same year, Machel was named chancellor of the African Leadership University, a role she still holds today.
She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries: South Africa and Mozambique. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique, Samora Machel (1975–1986), and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela (1998–2013). Machel has worked on child marriage and the founding of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage. In July 2017, Machel was elected an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's national humanities and social sciences academy.
In 2018, the World Health Organization awarded her for her contributions to the health and well-being of women, children, and adolescents. In July 2018, Machel attended the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mandela's birth.
