Amina Priscille Longoh (born 1991) is a Chadian humanitarian organizer and politician. She has served as in the

government of Chad The Government of Chad (French: ''Gouvernement du Tchad'') has been ruled by Mahamat Déby since 20 April 2021 as part of the National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established ...

as minister of women and the protection of early childhood since July 2020.

Biography

Longoh was born in 1991 in

Sarh Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive dete ...

, the capital of Chad's Moyen-Chari region. She holds a bachelor's degree from Wintech Professional Institute in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, as well as a master's in business administration from Sup'Management. After working in the oil sector for

Glencore Glencore plc is an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas headquarters are in London, London, England as well a ...

from 2013 to 2018, she left the firm to focus on humanitarian work. In 2016, Longoh founded Tchad Helping Hands, a charitable organization with a particular focus on supporting Chadian women and girls. The foundation's genesis was a fundraiser she had organized for a 2-year-old girl who had eye cancer. The funds did not come through in time, and the girl died. Wanting to be able to respond to crises more quickly in the future, she launched Tchad Helping Hands later that year. Longoh was appointed by President

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ( '; 18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the sixth List of heads of state of Chad, president of Chad from 1991 until his death in 2021 during the 2021 Northern Chad offensive, No ...

as director of the Maison Nationale de la Femme (National Women's House) in 2019. She also served as education commissioner for the

Panafrican Youth Union The Panafrican Youth Union (PYU) is the apex body for National Youth Coordinating Bodies and Mechanism in Africa. Known formerly as the Panafrican Youth Movement (PYM), it was transformed into the PYU at the organisation's 2003 congress in Windh ...

. In July 2020, she was appointed by Déby as minister of women and the protection of early childhood. At age 29, she was the youngest minister in the newly reshuffled cabinet alongside the new youth and sports minister, Routouang Mohamed Ndonga Christian. She was one of nine women in the 35-member cabinet. She was retained in the cabinet reshuffles under transitional president

Mahamat Déby Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno (; born 4 April 1984) is a Chadian politician and military officer who has been the leader of Chad since 2021, first as President of the Transitional Military Council (Chad), Transitional Military Council from 2021 to 20 ...

, who took over after his father's death. In September 2023, she was elevated to the rank of minister of state while retaining her gender portfolio, the first woman in Chad to reach that status. Longoh has advocated against the social and economic marginalization of women, and in favor of women's role in pan-African unity and identity. The minister was the subject of a controversy in November 2020 when a photo circulated online of her holding a

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, which was a gift from students at a Quranic school. Some Muslims believe that non-Muslims should not directly touch the holy book. She apologized, removing the photo from her social media profile and asking for forgiveness from the Muslim community. Longoh is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longoh, Amina Priscille 1991 births 21st-century Chadian women politicians 21st-century Chadian politicians Women government ministers of Chad People from Sarh Living people