The laureates

Mathieu NARENDRA is an Indo-Malagasy activist committed to the promotion of women’s rights and vulnerable youth communities. Since 2014, it has been working to combat the stigmatization of women and young people, who are often at risk of HIV transmission in India and southern Africa. Among other things, he has worked on projects aimed at improving the legal environment in order to facilitate access to sexual and reproductive health programs for these social groups that are often discriminated against.

In 2020, he founded the organization "Alternatives" in Madagascar, to support young people from vulnerable communities to accompany them in their economic and social projects. At the same time, through this initiative, he has helped to develop programs promoting women’s rights. In this regard, it has notably supported the creation of economic and health mutual assistance communities for sex workers in Madagascar, strengthened efforts to combat sexual violence within juvenile detention centers, and put in place prevention mechanisms for climate-change-related migration of women, which exposes them to economic hardship, pushing them into sex work and making them more vulnerable to human trafficking. Finally, his organization also supports local structures committed to these same issues and thus seeks to train a new generation of young influencers on gender equality.

Because of his commitment to the rights of marginalized young people and women, Mathieu Narendra has had the opportunity to receive numerous awards and participate in national and international forums. He has been selected for prestigious programs such as the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the "Young Leaders" of the French African Foundation, and has also been able to join the network "AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa".