Our team

She arrived in Belgium in 2011 as an unaccompanied minor, and her path crossed that of GAMS and she became one of our beneficiaries. She took part in our workshops and then trained as a community voices. After having been a member of the board for several years, she is now the new president of GAMS Belgium!

Originally from Guinea Conakry, she is a social worker at the CPAS of Schaerbeek and an activist against FGM. She was excised because she was born a woman, in a society where her main value was to honour and remain subject to the patriarchal system.

Today, she is rebuilding herself and is committed to fighting FGM and all forms of violence against women. Her fight is for every woman to feel in harmony with herself, her body, her morals and her sexuality.

Get to know Diariou better by reading her interview

Fabienne Richard is a French registered midwife who specialised in tropical medicine and public health (MSc, PhD). She has 10-year experience as clinical midwife and a field experience of 5 years in developing countries (Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Liberia, Somalia, Sri Lanka) for Doctors without borders and the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.

She is a female genital mutilation (FGM) expert midwife and is involved in FGM research (FGM prevalence study in Belgium, Action-research on referrals for girls at risk) and writing clinical guidelines for the Ministry of Health in Belgium. She is a member of the Superior Health Council working group for reconstructive surgery post-FGM.

She is currently the executive Director of GAMS Belgium (Groupe pour l’Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles), midwife at the multidisciplinary health care unit for women with FGM (CeMAViE) at the Hospital St-Pierre in Brussels. She is guest researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp and lecturer in several midwifery schools.

Fabienne Richard interview for EXPERTalia AJP available here.

Lisa joined GAMS in January 2021 as a management and communications assistant. Looking for her first professional experience, Lisa wanted to work for an organisation that made sense. Lisa is particularly sensitive to the place of women in the world, so it’s only natural that she should be working for GAMS Belgium. She has a degree in public relations and event management and is a great lover of sport!

Lisa has been communications manager at GAMS Belgium since September 2023!

Eager to contribute to the tangible improvement of women’s lives in our society, and sensitive to the multidimensional approach of GAMS’ work, Muriel is happy to join the team in 2024 as the Human Resources and Finance Manager.
Always attuned to social issues, Muriel focused her studies on sociology, which she approaches not only as a tool for understanding the world but also as a means for action.
After additional training in non-profit management, Muriel worked in the youth assistance sector, managing the administrative and financial affairs of an association supporting children and young people in foster care.

Carolina Neira Vianello grew up in Chile and studied Nursing care as well as Social intervention and communautary health. 

She began working for GAMS Belgium in 2009 within the framework of the End FGM Campaign, that was launched by Amnesty International Ireland, and that has now become the End FGM Network.

In 2011, she started animating community workshops (Monthly gatherings, Youth Workshop, Children’s workshop…). She is now also in charge of social monitoring and social support as part of the psychosocial team.

Feven is intercultural worker at GAMS Belgium. Before she started working as an employee in December 2019, Feven was a volunteer for 7 months.

She studied accounting In Eritrea and then worked as Accountant and junior Auditor. Feven arrived in Belgium at the end of 2016 and speaks many languages: Tigrinya (an Eritrean language), Amharic (an Ethiopian language) as well as English. She is also learning French.

Mélanie Jocquet is the coordinator for Wallonia. She is responsible for the Namur branch and is in charge of setting up projects and developing GAMS Belgium throughout Wallonia. She is mainly based at the Namur branch but is also present at the Liège branch.

Before joining our team in 2020, Mélanie already worked in a social service specialising in the rights of migrants. She provided assistance to people who asked for help with their various procedures (asylum, family reunification, regularisation, …). She also did the same work in penal institutions and offered social and legal support to detainees who requested it.

She also worked for an NGO working to improve access to health care for people in emergency situations.

Through these various meetings, she became aware of the particular vulnerability of women who experience a continuum of gender-based violence, both in their country of origin, during their migration process and during their asylum procedure in Belgium.

After gaining extensive experience in the banking sector, Aïcha Ali Abdou wanted to apply her passion for helping others and for intercultural relations. She now works as an intercultural worker at GAMS Belgium. Originally from Djibouti, Aïcha is trilingual, fluent in Afar, Somali, and French.

Her professional background, combined with her personal skills, allows her to play a crucial role in welcoming and supporting people from diverse communities.

Aïcha deeply believes in the importance of listening, guiding, and supporting individuals to help them understand and exercise their rights. Her goal is to actively contribute to the fight against female genital mutilation and to promote equality for all.

Valentine Hayet has always been concerned with the well-being of others, which led her to choose a career dedicated to helping people. She pursued her studies at UCLouvain, obtaining a degree in Clinical Psychology of Children, Adolescents, and Families, followed by an advanced degree in Integrated Psychotherapeutic Clinical Practice.

For five years, Valentine worked as a psychologist in an emergency shelter for families at NewSamusocial. Through this experience, she discovered GAMS and worked with marginalized and exiled individuals, including many victims of domestic violence. This exposure deepened her interest in gender-based violence, inspiring her to become more actively involved in combating these issues. Consequently, she decided to join GAMS, where she continues to contribute to the fight against gender-based violence.

Louise Da Via joins the team in Liège as a branch manager. A social worker by training, she also completed a first year master’s degree in conflict prevention and management.

She first worked in a youth centre in the Province of Liège and then in the Aide et Protection de la Jeunesse in France.

She is committed to fighting against inequalities. By joining the GAMS Belgium team, she gives meaning to her work and gets up every morning with the will to change things in a team that shares her values.

Katrien studied Social Science at the VUB and obtained a Masters Degree in Gender Studies at the University of Utrecht. She has worked for GAMS Belgium since 2014. She coordinates the activites in Flanders working in both Brussels and Antwerp where the Flanders Branch is located. “I accompany men as well as women individually. Every last Friday of the month, group activities are held in Antwerp, where we discuss different topics. Finally we follow reports relative to situations involving the risk of FGM.”

The Flanders Branch also provides made-to-measure training courses around FGM and every year initiates innovative projects with the backing of investors.

Luna Doppée, psychologist, joins our new Antwerp office.  Early on already, she was fascinated by psychology and art. In 2019, she graduated as a music therapist.  It’s natural for her to integrate these subjects in her career.

Luna is also interested in topics such as sexuality, culture, non-verbal therapy for children and adults, family therapy and positive psychology. Before coming to GAMS Belgium, Luna worked as a supervisor in a ‘Centrum Kinderzorg & Gezinsondersteuning’ – CKG (Youth Support and Family care centre). She touched on issues with attachment problems, domestic violence and trauma.

For her, working with GAMS Belgium allows her to bring together all the themes she is passionate about.

Jente studied law at the University of Ghent, specializing in Human Rights, Migration Law, and Criminal Law. In 2019, she participated in the project Legal Actions against Human Rights Violations as part of the Human Rights and Migration Law Clinic at the University of Ghent.

After completing her studies, she started practicing as a lawyer at the Ghent Bar, specializing in immigration law, family law, and private international law (PIL). Additionally, Jente completed training to become a certified mediator with a specialization in family matters.

As a lawyer, she supported clients through their requests for international protection and other residency procedures, some of whom faced issues related to FGM. This is how she became involved with GAMS, where the organization’s feminist activism immediately resonated with her.

Since September 2023, Jente has joined the Brussels and Flemish teams at GAMS as a legal advisor.

Heba, of Palestinian origin, was born and raised in Libya, where she completed her university degree in French literature. After graduating, she followed her passion for media by studying television editing in Egypt. Over the years, she worked as a presenter, editor, and production professional with several television channels in Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Later, she moved to Malaysia to pursue further studies, before settling in Belgium in 2019. Her experiences living in various countries and engaging with diverse cultures shaped her worldview and deepened her belief in diversity and equality. These values naturally led her to work with marginalized communities and minorities.

Heba began her journey with GAMS Belgium as a volunteer . Today, she is a proud member of the team. She brings a wealth of experience and a warm, open spirit to her role. Heba has always believed that every woman has a story worth listening to, and that listening with empathy and respect is the first step toward meaningful change.