Over 250 marginalized women in Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro

More than 250 marginalized women in Africa will later this year climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, to advocate for women's rights towards accessing natural resources, an official said on Sunday.

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free standing mountain in the world. The summit on Mount Kilimanjaro is called Uhuru Peak and stands at 5,895 metres or 19,341 feet.

Grace Kisetu, an advocacy officer with Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), said the three-day expedition to Africa's rooftop called the Kilimanjaro Initiative will see women from all walks of life on the continent brave the freezing conditions and the rough terrains of the mountain as they push for their rights.

"The climb to the highest mountain in Africa signals the women's determination towards the full realization of their rights, especially the right to land ownership," said Kisetu.

She added: "The women from five zones of the African continent will battle the freezing conditions to express their hunger for change and the cry for their rights."

She said the climb will also go in tandem with a symposium of land rights on women, which she said will serve as an avenue to air their grievances and an expression of having control over land and also drawing attention to fighting violence against women and girls.

Kisetu said the marginalized women will be drawn from the southern, eastern, western, central and northern part of the continent for the scaling of the mountain and the symposium.

"This will be a big event for the African women in our quest of liberating ourselves," added Kisetu. Endit