Our team

To combat this scourge, Khadidiatou created GAMS Belgium in 1996. A visionary and energetic woman, she has surrounded herself with a motivated team to set up the projects she develops when it comes to defending children’s rights.

After 26 years, Khadidiatou handed over her position as chairwoman to Diariou Sow in June 2022.

• Provides administrative and financial coordination
• Accounting and Personnel Administration
• In collaboration with the Social Secretary and Ecosolidaires
• Referent in computer science

With a degree in social and intercultural psychology, she furthered her expertise in the field of psychotraumatology by obtaining a second master’s in clinical psychology and a certificate in victimology and psychotraumatology. Her extensive experience in supporting women who are victims of domestic and sexual violence, combined with her work on genital mutilation, led her to continue her commitment with GAMS. She is currently dedicated to research aimed at better understanding the needs of women from South Asian communities living in Belgium. This research aims to enhance the prevention and support services offered in Belgium.

Within the association, Aude takes on the responsibility of managing reception and oversees administrative tasks directly or indirectly related to the NGO. Simultaneously, she assumes the role of a communication assistant, contributing to the organization of events and internal and external communication.

As the author of “The Girl Who Sees Everything,” a story giving voice to a young woman and highlighting themes related to psychology, mental health, and harassment, Zahraa joins GAMS as an administrative assistant within the Administration and Finance team. Her vision is aligned with the ongoing advocacy for women’s rights, and she is convinced that she can fully contribute to the NGO’s mission.

Having supported young asylum seekers, refugees, and individuals with learning disabilities in England, both individually and in groups, Charlène decided to focus on fundraising in 2021. Since then, she has provided support to organizations working for the cause of refugees and the Palestinian people.

She enjoys focusing on the strengths of the organization, highlighting the impact and successes of various projects. She works closely with teams to ensure the necessary resources are secured to positively transform the lives of those they support.

Since moving to Belgium, she has been searching for an organization that aligns with her values and her new community. This is how she discovered GAMS, whose mission deeply touched her. Defending women’s rights has always been a priority for her. Having supported refugee girls and women, she has often witnessed firsthand the injustices they face. That’s why she is honored to support such an important organization as GAMS in its fundraising efforts to ensure the sustainability of its essential mission.

Her interest for women’s rights pushed her to continue with the association as a volunteer for two years, then as a full-time member of staff.

She is co-author of the guide « Femme excisée et réfugiée, ma façon d’exister – Savoir-faire et Savoir-être en entretien » (2012). Through the individual consultations, she listens to the women « beyond the words » and observes the body language. She is so fascinated by the body language that in 2010, she initiated a workshop for corporal expressiveness, for women victim of gender based violence. 

She also followed a course in Art Therapy. Creation is now her privileged tool as much in individual work as collective. Back to creativity, where life seems to stand still.

“Each letter of my first name resonates with who I am:

K = Kinshasa, in DR Congo where I was born before coming to Belgium when I was 6 years old.
E = Equality, I studied law to defend those who are deprived of it.
Y = YOLO (You Only Live Once), my mantra…
L = Languages: in addition to French (my mother tongue) I speak Dutch and English.
A = Afro-eco-feminism: a neologism that reflects my Afrofeminist and ecological values”.

Keyla also goes to the Liège branch to offer a legal service.

She has always been keen to integrate her feminist values into her profession. After a year specialising in Community Health, she became more interested in the voluntary sector. It was during a work placement that she had her first real contact with GAMS and its team. Julia immediately embraced its philosophy and its humane, inclusive approach! 

She then joined the team to complete the midwifery team. Alongside her work at GAMS, she continues to work as a freelance midwife and is also doing a Masters in Sociology and Anthropology at UCL.

In 2014, she obtained a certificate in Office Management from Nouveau-Saint-Servais in Namur. She continued her education with a pre-training at the IPFS (Provincial Institute of Social Training) in 2015 and started her first year as an A2 educator in 2015-2016. Upon discovering GAMS Belgium, Ismatou was reminded of the various forms of violence women face in her home country, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), rape, domination, and gender-based injustices.

Ismatou is convinced that she has found her calling at GAMS. Her goal is to support individuals facing psychological and social challenges through listening, guidance, accompaniment, and raising awareness. She aims to help them understand their rights and responsibilities, with the ultimate objective of eradicating the harmful practice of female genital mutilation.

With a degree in microfinance and a law degree, Elly is a born humanist! Throughout her life, she has been committed to the empowerment of women. As the mother of a young girl from Laos, Elly travels to capture the beauty of the world with her camera.

For her, working at GAMS Belgium means contributing, as part of a multidisciplinary, multicultural and passionate team, to the defence of women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence.

A midwife by profession, Rebecca also holds the position of antenna manager, overseeing the Liège and Namur branches.

Before joining GAMS, Rebecca worked in various fields, including the hospital and nonprofit sectors, where she engaged with people in vulnerable situations.

With a humanistic approach and a deep commitment to protecting women’s rights, Rebecca aspires to a world where every girl and woman can live without the fear of genital mutilation violence. Her work, both at the individual and community level, is guided by a shared goal: to eradicate this practice and promote sexual and reproductive health that respects human rights.

I discovered GAMS two years ago through a friend who knows my interest in issues related to female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic violence, and sexual violence.

Already active with the Collective Against Family Violence and Exclusion (CVFE), I am proud to contribute to GAMS’ efforts. My deepest wish has always been to get involved in an organization that actively fights against sexual violence and gender-based violence (GBV), which made joining GAMS an obvious choice for me. I initially joined the GAMS family for a temporary replacement, but today, it has become my own family, and I have returned for good.

When she came back to Belgium in 2013, she started working for GAMS Belgium. She worked as an executive assistant during one year, and then joined the Flanders’ team as a project officer. She was responsible for developing the toolbox with educational materials and the coordination of peer educators in Flanders. She graduated in Social Work in 2018 and operates ever since in GAMS’ social services.

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.

Mawda wants to make the world a better place, and according to her, GAMS Belgium is already doing this and she would like to be part of the change.

She is convinced that everyone has the right to access equivalent healthcare. For years, she has been dedicated to supporting pregnant women and new mothers in (at-risk of) poverty and/or without legal residency documents and with a migration background as a midwife. On a regular basis, she provides preconceptional, prenatal, and postnatal support in reception centers. This is how she came into contact with female genital mutilation and gender-related violence.

She also encountered the limitations of first-line guidance. She felt the need to do more for these women and advocate for their rights. It was from this background that her interest was piqued to join Gams Belgium.

Lieselote will help develop ongoing training for professionals (men/women/non-binary) in Flanders and is ready to support pregnant women and mothers from the Antwerp branch. In addition to this, she will also continue to work as an independent midwife.

Her introduction to GAMS came through her assistantship at the reception center, where she became acquainted with the organization. The dynamic and inspiring nature of the GAMS team resonated with her, ultimately motivating her to become a part of it. In addition to joining the team, she trained as a peer educator at GAMS and worked as a volunteer.

Fatma would like to help women find their right. In other words, help women find a balance between self and culture.