Cameras For Girls: Amina Mohamed’s Fight to Give Women a Voice

Amina Mohamed, a UK-born Canadian filmmaker and photographer, is changing the lives of young women in East Africa through a powerful yet simple tool, a camera. Having fled Uganda at the age of three as a refugee with her family during Idi Amin’s rule, Amina grew up in Canada where she built a career in media.

But she never forgot the limited opportunities for girls back home. When she returned years later as a filmmaker, she witnessed firsthand how many young women were denied education, forced into early marriages, or left without a voice in society. That experience planted the seed for what would become Cameras For Girls, a program dedicated to equipping young women with cameras, training, and mentorship to build careers in journalism, photography, and media.

Since launching in 2018, Cameras For Girls has reached 129 young women in Uganda, later expanding to Tanzania and across the continent through the Online Learning Hub, purposely built to reach women who cannot enter the program through one of their university partners. Every participant receives a camera to keep, an invaluable asset in a region where many journalism graduates cannot afford one. But the gift of a camera is only the beginning. Amina’s program combines hands-on photography workshops, online lessons in ethical storytelling and business, and six-month mentorship from media and photography professionals. This holistic approach bridges the gap between classroom theory and real-world opportunity, giving young women both the tools and the confidence to succeed.

“The impact has been tremendous. We have empowered our girls to improve their lives through the job opportunities they can now access with the skills they have acquired. We have also given them the confidence to stand up against gender-related workplace exploitation and to demand fair and equitable working conditions,” Amina said.

The impact of her work can be seen in the lives of graduates. In Uganda alone, more than 129 young women have completed the program, with around 80 percent securing full-time work in media, communications, or photography. Some have launched their own businesses, others have won fellowships and awards, and many now mentor younger cohorts, ensuring the cycle of empowerment continues. One graduate even stood up against workplace exploitation, turning down a job that demanded sexual favors, choosing instead to build her own path with the skills and equipment she had gained.

For Sharon Kyatusiimire, Founder of She-Voice Uganda, the program was life-changing. “I met Amina in 2018 when I joined her very first photography class alongside about 20 other young women. Since then, she has remained a constant presence in our lives—lifting us spiritually, financially, and socially. She has connected me to job opportunities and has been a major influence in the formation of She-Voice Uganda, a platform that amplifies female voices by training girls to tell their stories while also providing a space to publish those stories and earn a living,” she said.

Beyond technical training, Amina’s vision is rooted in changing cultural narratives. By placing cameras directly in the hands of young women, she is ensuring that women’s issues are told by women themselves, creating a powerful shift in how stories are shared in East Africa. Her graduates are using photography and media not just to earn a living, but to amplify voices, challenge stereotypes, and reshape the communities they live in.

What began as a personal response to the injustices Amina witnessed has grown into a movement. Over 2,000 women have already benefitted from her training across Africa, and the goal is to reach 30,000 by 2030. For Amina, every donated camera is more than just a piece of equipment, it is a key that unlocks opportunity, dignity, and independence. Through , she is proving that with the right tools, young women in Uganda and across Africa can tell their own stories, claim their own futures, and inspire countless others along the way.