Jenipher Sanni

Jenipher Sanni is a Malawian women’s rights activist who campaigns against child marriage. She was married at fourteen to an abusive older man, and she dropped out of school. She later escaped with help from a local NGO, Malawi Girl Guides, and resumed her education. The introduction of bicycles by the United Nations Population Fund significantly reduced her commute, allowing her to excel academically and aim for university. 

Taking inspiration from her own experience, Jenipher launched a campaign to buy a thousand bicycles for girls living in rural areas to make their arduous commutes to class easier. In 2017, Jenipher traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak at the UN-organized Girl-Up Leadership Summit about the importance of education and the efforts to end child marriage.