Born to parents from Mali, Aminata Touré was appointed on Wednesday 29 June as Minister for Social Affairs, Youth, Family, Senior Citizens, Integration and Equality in the government of Governor Daniel Günther in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, located in the far north of the country on the border with Denmark.
“I am happy to be part of Daniel Günther’s Cabinet II. I will carry out this task conscientiously and with pleasure,” said the new minister on her Twitter account.
Aminata Touré became a regional MP in 2017, when she replaced Monika Heinold in the Parliamentary Assembly of Schleswig-Holstein, as the latter had been appointed Minister of Finance in the new government. Later, she was elected on Wednesday 29 August 2019 as vice-president of the regional parliament of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, with 46 votes for, 15 against and 8 abstentions and in the presence of her parents.
Aminata Touré, a young refugee in Germany, decided to stand for election at the age of 24, after realising that she had nothing in common with politicians who made decisions that would directly affect her. Aminata Touré stood for election in 2017 on behalf of the German Green Party, with climate policy as one of the central themes of her campaign. As a result, in 2017 she entered the regional parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, one of the parliaments in Germany, becoming the youngest and first black member of parliament in Schleswig-Holstein.
When she sat in her chair in the parliament on the first day, an older colleague asked her, with surprise, what she was doing there. Two years later, she was leading the plenary sessions… Furthermore, as the youngest woman parliamentarian in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, she is committed to ensuring that women, young people and minorities have a voice. For example, in the Schleswig-Holstein parliament she was the spokesperson for her group on issues related to refugee women, gender equality, children and youth, and gay policy. She was also a substitute member of the Committee on the Interior and Legal Affairs, the Social Committee and the Committee on Petitions of the Parliamentary Assembly.
Background
Aminata Touré was born on 15 November 1992 in Neumünster, Germany and grew up there. Her parents moved from Mali to Germany the same year. For the first five years, Aminata Touré lived with her family in shared accommodation in the Faldera district of Neumünster. Aminata Touré, although born in Germany, did not receive citizenship until she was 12 years old. She first came to Mali at the age of 13.
She graduated from the Faldera Community School in 2011. She then studied political science and French philology at Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel and graduated in 2016 . During her studies, she spent a semester abroad at the Complutense University in Madrid between 2013 and 2014.
From 2014 to 2017, Aminata Touré worked as a student assistant and then as a personal assistant / research assistant for the Federal Member of Parliament Luise Amtsberg, member of the Alliance 90 / The Greens faction.
Aminata’s voluntary and political engagement started at school, in the student representation and as school president in the project SORSMC – School without Racism – School with Courage, and continued during her studies. She was a member of the English and Romance Languages and Literatures Students’ Association. She led the Turkish community project for children with a migrant background.
In 2012, Aminata Touré became a member and spokesperson of the Young Greens in Kiel. In the same year, she decided to join the party BÜNDNIS 90/ DIE GRÜNEN. From 2013 to 2017, she was spokesperson for the regional working group on migration and evasion. From 2016 to 2017, she was an assessor in the regional office of BÜNDNIS 90/ DIE GRÜNEN in Schleswig-Holstein.
On 29 June 2017, Aminata replaced Monika Heinold in the Parliamentary Assembly of Schleswig-Holstein, as the latter had been appointed Minister of Finance in the new government.
Spokesperson for migration and flight, anti-racism, women and equality, queer politics, religion as well as civil protection and rescue services, she was also a member of the Committee on Internal and Legal Affairs and the Parliamentary Investigation Committee as well as a deputy member of the Landtag’s Petitions Committee.
On 28 August 2019, Aminata Touré also became Vice President of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein, becoming the first Afro-German and the youngest Vice President in Germany.
