Aïcha Bah Diallo

Aïcha Bah Diallo (born 1942 in Kouroussa) is a Guinean education minister and women's rights activist, who served as Minister of Education from 1989 to 1996, and was responsible for implementing major reforms improving education among young girls.

Early life and education A paternal great-granddaughter of Thierno Aliou Bhoubha Ndian, Diallo has said of her early life and development as a leader: "I was empowered as a leader from a very young age, and I kept on going. I was the first girl born after three boys, and my parents would say to me, 'You are a leader. You have to be good at school, not second, but always be first, because we know that you can do it'". Diallo graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and received a postgraduate diploma in biochemistry from Guinea's Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry. In 1992, she helped established the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), and from 1996 to 2005 she served as a senior education leader at UNESCO, where she was appointed to help improve enrollment in female education in some of the least developed countries. In 2005, she helped set up the Association for Strengthening Higher Education for Women in Africa (ASHEWA) and was appointed Special Advisor to the Director General of UNESCO for Africa, a position which she held until 2009. She sits on the Liaison Committee of NGOs, which is partnered with UNESCO, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Prize Committee for Good Governance and Leadership in Africa, and is a member of the Islamic Development Bank President Advisory Panel (PAP/IDB).

Acclaim Diallo has received significant accolades for her work in African education, including the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques, the Ivorian Officier de I'Ordre national, and the Chevalier de l'Ordre du mérite and Médaille d'Honneur du Travail of Guinea. New African magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential Africans in 2013 and 2014. In 2015 and 2017, she received the WISE Prize for Education. Several private and public schools are named after her in Guinea, and there is also a school in her name in Senegal.