Unite for Bissau

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Unite for Bissau | Iara Lee | Guinea-Bissau | 2023 | 39 min

In the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, women often work outside the home and act as breadwinners, many by growing food and promoting agroecology. Yet they can also be saddled with the burden of running their homes, as men expect them to take on most of the housework and child-rearing duties. UNITE FOR BISSAU explores how women in diverse communities in Guinea-Bissau — ranging from the matriarchal villages of the Bijagós Archipelago to Muslim, Christian, and animist communities on the mainland — are confronting patriarchy, protesting female genital mutilation, asserting their role in preserving traditional agriculture, and building institutions to promote self-sufficiency. Carrying forward the legacy of Amílcar Cabral, the Bissau-Guinean independence leader who included women’s rights and agronomy at the centre of the struggle for liberation, the women of a rising generation are taking their power back.