Senegal’s Bineta Diop

TIME magazine has named Bineta Diop, Founder and Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarities (FAS) to the 2011 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. FAS is a women’s non-governmental organization (NGO) working to engender the peace process in Africa. Since its inception in 1996, FAS has worked to foster, strengthen and promote the leading role of women in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts on the African continent.

Diop has led numerous peace building initiatives in Africa with a focus on the protection of women during armed conflicts and their inclusion in peace processes. The TIME 100 list, now in its eighth year, recognises the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. As TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel has said of the list in the past, “the TIME 100 is not a list of the most powerful people in the world, it’s not a list of the smartest people in the world, it’s a list of the most influential people in the world. They’re scientists, they’re thinkers, they’re philosophers, they’re leaders, they’re icons, they’re artists, and they’re visionaries. People who are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people.” Read more