Grace Akallo
Grace Akallo is the founder of United Africans for Women and Children Rights, which advocates for an end to the persecution of child-soldiers, and for women and girl’s rights to improve their socio-economic and political status. She believes that education is the key to improving the lives of young women and girls who have been affected by conflict in Africa. October 9, 1996, Ugandan rebels called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attacked St. Mary’s College, a girls' boarding school in Aboke Town in northern Uganda, abducting 139 girls, including Grace. Sister Rachelle Fassera, followed the rebels into the bush and pleaded for her students’ release. The rebels released 109 of the girls, but kept Grace and 29 others. After seven months Grace escaped and finished her secondary education at St. Mary’s. She eventually moved to the US, and received her BA and MA Degrees. She co-authored Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope For Northern Uganda.
