On this May 1st, Labor Day, a voice rises with strength and clarity in the chorus of social demands: that of the president of the National Network of Working Women of Senegal (RENAFETS), Fatoumata Bintou Yafa,

As the legitimate spokesperson for working women in Senegal, she today delivers an unambiguous message to the nation: enact the law extending maternity leave to 18 weeks. This reform is long overdue, necessary, and now urgently needed to reconcile maternal dignity with social justice.

Invited on the show "Sitöé," Fatoumata Bintou Yafa doesn't just make demands. She argues her case, she embodies the reality. She reminds us that behind every statistic lies a woman hesitating between her infant and her job, between her health and her salary.

"Eighteen weeks is not a privilege. It is the minimum time recommended by the International Labour Organization to allow the mother to recover, the child to be breastfed, instead of developing without precariousness entering the maternity ward," she explained.

The fight doesn't end there. Paternity leave, the neglected aspect of our legislation, is also central to the advocacy efforts of RENAFETS. A society that protects mothers without involving fathers is only halfway to achieving equality.

Through her rigor and commitment, Fatoumata Bintou Yafa has established herself as the authoritative voice of resilient women who refuse to choose between giving life and keeping their jobs.

Within the National Confederation of Workers of Senegal (CNTS), she was the general secretary of the National Union of Elementary Education (SNEEL), deputy general secretary of the CNTS and the first president of the National Committee of Working Women of the CNTS.

In this interview, she looked back on the struggles of more than two decades of unionism.