Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been awarded the 2020 Africa Freedom Prize by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) in a virtual event.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Professor Karl-Heinz Paqué, explained that the Jury’s decision to choose Adichie as the 2020 FNF Africa Freedom Prize winner stemmed from her fight for freedom for women.
In his words: “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the long-lost, undogmatic voice of liberal feminism in the 21st century. She represents the success and self-image of a new generation of African women writers who are increasingly making their voices heard on the world literary stage. In her fight for freedom and self-determination for women, Adichie contributes to the consolidation of liberal values and goals – not only in Africa, but all over the world.”
In a virtual event, Adichie accepted her award with a powerful speech titled “What if we raise the bar for men?” in which she made a global call for new examples of masculinity:
“Men can do better, and we as a society must expect men to do better. And so, when we say GBV (gender-based violence), let us also be specific about which violence is currently an epidemic in the world today. It is male violence against women. We should talk honestly and openly about it, we should change mindsets about it, we should implement laws that severely punish it, and we should raise the bar for men”