‘‘I was a very ambitious young girl, I looked at Margaret Thatcher and Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, and I said well, if they can do it at that level, why not me?’’

What and who made you the person you are today? It’s a big question and the answer is different for us all.

As she pursued her education in France and the USA, Aminata was clear in her mind what she wanted to do: champion human and women’s rights.

Her work on reproductive health in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and later with the United Nations would help her prepare a set of priorities for when her opportunity would come to serve in the government.

But it wasn’t all work and she loved football and judo - interests her mother worried would stop her from finding a husband.