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.

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.

Mariama is of Guinean origin and mother of 4 children. She joined the team as coordinator of the volunteer pool “Community Voices”. She has known GAMS for several years already.

Mariama is trained in Business Administration (Master), in animation of socio-cultural projects, and in intercultural mediation. She also has a degree in the management of cross-cultural institutions.

Mariama has been leading this struggle for many years now. She participated in the national forum of the girl child in 2005 in Conakry, Guinea. According to her, the fight must also be led within the communities by the members of these communities. Coordinating the community relays is therefore logical for her. The fight against female genital mutilation is an ongoing battle.

Aissatou is the coordinator of GAMS Belgium’s activities in Brussels. A nurse by training, she has built her career at the crossroads of health, migration and support for women and girls.

After working in the reception sector for applicants for international protection, particularly in healthcare, Aissatou gradually developed a strong interest in situations where medical issues intersect with social and cultural realities and with experiences of exile. This work taught her the importance of a holistic approach to support: one that goes beyond medical care and places listening, trust and respect for each person’s story at its heart.

Born in Guinea, she arrived in Belgium as an unaccompanied minor. This gives her a personal perspective on migration journeys and on the many realities women may face when they leave their country and rebuild their lives elsewhere. This sensitivity, combined with her professional experience, is a large part of what led her to commit to the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM).

For her, joining GAMS is a chance to bring all these experiences together towards one goal: helping to create spaces where women and girls affected by FGM can be heard, informed and supported, and can take an active part in the decisions that concern them.

At GAMS, Aissatou coordinates activities and projects in Brussels and works with teams, professionals and partners on prevention, protection and support. She is particularly interested in how professionals can communicate better about FGM and support the people concerned without judgement, in a way that respects their journeys and their strengths.

Alongside her work, she is studying public health, with a particular interest in health promotion, the prevention of gender-based violence and the reduction of health inequalities.

J’ai traduit « MENA » par « unaccompanied minor », le terme utilisé en anglais. J’ai écrit en anglais britannique (« judgement »), comme pour la bio de Jeanne, pour que les deux textes restent cohérents sur le site.

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.

Aminata Sidibé, also known as Anita, was born and raised in Belgium while being primarily of Guinean origin. Holding a bachelor’s degree in political science, she also earned a master’s degree in population and development sciences.

Anita discovered GAMS Belgium during her research for her thesis entitled “Strategies for Ending Female Genital Mutilation in Guinea.” She then completed a 9-month internship within the organization.

Following this experience, she joined the team as a project officer, contributing notably to a health promotion study.

Since September 2024, Anita has been coordinating the Brussels office as well as the Community of Practice FGM (CoP FGM), while continuing her duties as a project officer.

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.

During her university studies in clinical psychology at UCLouvain, Nathalie completed her internship in Rwanda. Having always been drawn to discovering different cultures, and guided by a deep openness to others and their ways of thinking, she found this experience to be a key turning point in her path. For more than ten years, Nathalie has supported women, men and unaccompanied young people from many cultures. What they share is having had to flee their country to survive and/or protect their families, to find a space of freedom, or to live in line with their choices and their true identity.

Trained in body-oriented psychotherapy, she also draws on creative expression. Nathalie pays particular attention to relationships, to the place of the body and listening to its language, and to each person’s ability to (re)connect with their own inner resources.

Deeply aware of the many forms of violence that women and girls affected by FGM may experience, she hopes to use her experience and tools to support them in reclaiming their bodies, their stories and their power to act.

Nathalie also believes in the strength of the collective and of sisterhood as drivers of transformation, support and change.

Amélie joined the GAMS team as a Legal Officer in April 2026. She is responsible for legal matters at the Brussels, Namur and Liège offices.

She holds a master’s degree in law with a specialisation in civil and criminal law, and her main areas of interest are family law, children’s rights and immigration law.

Committed to intersectional and intercultural feminism, she cares deeply about protecting the fundamental rights of people who experience gender-based violence.

At GAMS, Amélie has found a place where these fields come together, working towards the abolition of FGM through awareness-raising and legal protection. Working within a multidisciplinary team is also very important to her, as it makes it possible to offer holistic support that takes into account each person’s different needs.

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.

Amélie joined the GAMS team as a Legal Officer in April 2026. She is responsible for legal matters at the Brussels, Namur and Liège offices.

She holds a master’s degree in law with a specialisation in civil and criminal law, and her main areas of interest are family law, children’s rights and immigration law.

Committed to intersectional and intercultural feminism, she cares deeply about protecting the fundamental rights of people who experience gender-based violence.

At GAMS, Amélie has found a place where these fields come together, working towards the abolition of FGM through awareness-raising and legal protection. Working within a multidisciplinary team is also very important to her, as it makes it possible to offer holistic support that takes into account each person’s different needs.

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.

Yana holds degrees in applied psychology and socio-cultural work. In her first job, as a psychosocial support worker at a reception centre for applicants for international protection, she came across GAMS and the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) for the first time.

She then deepened her expertise with a master’s degree in Gender and Diversity at Ghent University, and gained further experience in gender and diversity issues in Belgium, Benin and Senegal.

Since January 2026, Yana has been working with great enthusiasm to promote a coordinated approach to gender-based violence in Flanders. With a particular focus on FGM, forced marriage and abandonment abroad, she works to strengthen collaboration between the different actors involved, in order to promote effective prevention and high-quality support for girls and women, within a broader perspective of gender equality.

Yana is also involved in training activities and in following up on at-risk situations.

J’ai traduit « l’abandon » par « abandonment abroad » : en néerlandais, le terme est « achterlating », c’est-à-dire le fait de laisser une jeune fille ou une femme dans le pays d’origine contre sa volonté. Le mot « abandonment » seul serait trop vague en anglais. J’ai aussi gardé « coordinated approach to gender-based violence », pour rester cohérente avec son titre de poste.

Mariama Camara is a student. She is deeply committed to women’s rights, and it matters to her to speak up for women and girls who are oppressed and who sometimes find it hard to make their own voices heard.

At GAMS, she hopes to help support and empower women and young girls. She also looks forward to learning a great deal and growing through the experiences and stories she will encounter.

She owes her path to GAMS to her mother, and is deeply grateful to her for it. Thanks to her mother, she has learned to see the world, and herself, differently. Her mother’s commitment inspired her to get involved and work for others too.

She is therefore very happy to join GAMS as a student, and looks forward to working alongside the team to help build a safer and fairer future for women and girls.