Emilie Béatrice Epaye

Beatrice Epaye received the International Women of Courage Award from the U.S. State Department in 2015.

Emilie Béatrice Epaye is a politician and teacher from the Central African Republic. She was a minister in the government and she was in the National Assembly. Epaye works for better government, economic development, freedom, human rights, and peace.^[1][2] In 2015, she won the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award.^[3][4]

Life

Emilie Béatrice Epaye was born about 1956. She studied to be a teacher. She worked in her family transportation business. ^[5]

Work

La Fondation la Voix du Coeur

In 2000, Epaye became the new director of the La Fondation la Voix du Coeur (The Voice of the Heart Foundation) organization. ^[6] Lucienne Patassé, the wife of president Ange-Félix Patassé started the organization in 1994 to help street children. She started a home for the children in the city of Bangui,^[7] The children received food, education, medical care, and training, in a place that was safe and free from violence. ^[8]

Politics

In 2003, General François Bozizé led a coup and became the new leader of the Central African Republic. He formed a transition council to help with the change in government. The council wrote the 2004 constitution. Epaye was in the transition council. ^[9]

From 2003 to 2005, Epaye was president of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the National Assembly and was a member of the National Transitional Council. In 2005 she became the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises. She was in that position for five years. In 2008 she became the Minister of Trade and Industry. She was in that position through 2011.^[10]

In 2013 there was a new coup by a group called Séléka. Michel Djotodia became president, but there was much violence. ^[11] The United Nations, the African Union, and the French government sent soldiers to stop the fighting. New elections were scheduled for 2015, and Catherine Samba-Panza was elected leader of the country for the transition. Epaye was in the new council to help with the transition. ^[11]

Pan African organizations

From 2003-2005, Epaye was a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). Beginning in 2008, she was the leader of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI. She also was on the Council of Ministers of the Economic Union of Central Africa (CAEU). ^[10]

Awards

In 2010, the Council of Ministers of the Economic Union of Central Africa (CAEU), gave Epaye the Medal of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit from the CEMAC Community. ^[10] In 2015, the U.S. State Department gave her the International Women of Courage Award. ^[3]

References

1. "AWIU » 2015 IWOC Awardees". Archived from the original on 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
2. "2015 International Women of Courage Award Winners - International Women of Courage Celebration". Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
3. "Biographies of 2015 Award Winners".
4. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/05/state-department-honors-international-women-of-courage
5. "La Voix du coeur, dernier refuge des enfants de la rue de Bangui". Pana Press. 27 June 2001. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
6. "The names of the children of Ange-Félix Patassé, former president of the Central African Republic; whether his children are specifically targeted by the current government authorities". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 23 September 2005. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
7. "Subvention au centre d'accueil La Voix du Cœur". Children of Africa Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
8. Bamford, Emily (10 October 2007). "Voix du Coeur Centre provides a safe haven for Bangui's street children". UNICEF. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
9. "The History of Central African Republic". osargenews.com. Osarge News. 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
10. "Crisis in the Central African Republic". National Endowment for Democracy. September 27, 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
11. Paracchini, Andrea (24 September 2014). "Béatrice Epaye : la transition en Centrafrique a piétiné, maintenant la relance". Alter Mondes. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

Other websites

• 2015 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr
• Secretary's International Women of Courage Award (U.S. Department of State)