She returned to Praia in Cape Verde and became a counsellor judge at the Supreme Court. She later became an advisor to the President of the Republic.
Duarte was the recipient of the inaugural North–South Prize in 1995, along with musician, Peter Gabriel.[3] The North–South Prize is awarded annually to recipients in the field of human rights by the North–South Centre of the Council of Europe. She is also a founding member of the Lisbon Forum.[3]
Duarte co-founded and chaired the National Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship of Cape Verde in 2003.[3] Most recently, Duarte has served as the Cape Verdean Minister of Education.[3]
Works
Poetry
1993 – Amanhã amadrugada
2001 – O arquipélago da paixão
2005 – Preces e súplicas ou os cânticos da desesperança
2010 – Exercícios poéticos
2018 - A reinvenção do mar
Novels
2003 – A candidata (The Candidate)
2017 - A matriarca – uma estória de mestiçagens (The Matriarch)
2021 - A Vénus Crioula (The Creole Venus)
Essays
2007 – Construindo a utopia (Constructing Utopias)[5]