Zakira Hekmat is an Afghan Doctor and rights activist [1] She founded the Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association in Turkey to work for the rights of all refugees and women. [2] [3] She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2023.
Zakira Hekmat is an Afghan Doctor and rights activist [1] She founded the Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association in Turkey to work for the rights of all refugees and women. [2] [3] She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2023.
Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee their country as a result of wars, persecution, torture or genocide. The 1978 Saur Revolution followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion marked the first major wave of internal displacement and international migration to neighboring Iran and Pakistan; smaller numbers also went to India or to countries of the former Soviet Union. Between 1979 and 1992, more than 20% of Afghanistan's population fled the country as refugees. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, many returned to Afghanistan, however many Afghans were again forced to flee during the civil war in the 90s. Over 6 million Afghan refugees were residing in Iran and Pakistan by 2000. Most refugees returned to Afghanistan following the 2001 United States invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime. Between 2002 and 2012, 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan, increasing the country's population by 25%.
Malalai Joya is an activist, writer, and a politician from Afghanistan. She served as a Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of warlords and war criminals in the Afghan Parliament. She was an outspoken critic of the Karzai administration and its western supporters, particularly the United States.
Sima Samar is an Afghan woman and human rights advocate, activist and social worker within national and international forums, who served as Minister of Women's Affairs of Afghanistan from December 2001 to 2003. She is the former Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and, from 2005 to 2009, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan. In 2012, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her longstanding and courageous dedication to human rights, especially the rights of women, in one of the most complex and dangerous regions in the world."
The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness, and willingness to sacrifice for others, especially in promoting women's rights.
Maria Bashir is a prosecutor based in Afghanistan, who is the only woman to ever hold such a position in the country as of 2009. With more than fifteen years of experience with Afghan civil service - the Taliban, corrupt policemen, death threats, failed assassination attempts - she has seen them all. She was banned from working during the Taliban period, when she spent her time schooling girls illegally at her residence, when it was illegal for women to be seen unescorted by men on the streets. In the post-Taliban era, she was called back into service, and was made the Chief Prosecutor General of Herat Province in 2006. With her main focus on eradicating corruption and oppression of women, she has handled around 87 cases in 2010 alone.
Eva Abu Halaweh is a lawyer and human rights activist in Jordan, and was awarded the International Women of Courage Award presented by the US Department of State in 2011.
Şafak Pavey is a Turkish diplomat, columnist and politician. She is a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) representing Istanbul Province. She is the first disabled woman ever elected to the Turkish parliament, and is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2012 Pavey was honored by the United States Department of State with the International Women of Courage Award.
Sima Wali was one of the foremost Afghan human rights advocates in the world, serving as an international campaigner for the liberties and empowerment of refugee and internally displaced populations. She was the Chief Executive Officer of Refugee Women in Development (RefWID), Inc., a global non-profit organization that advocated for the civil rights of refugee women and girls fleeing from conflict and for their equitable reintegration into their societies. She was also the vice president of the Sisterhood Is Global Institute, the world’s first feminist think tank.
Aziza Siddiqui was an Afghan activist. She was the Women's Rights Coordinator with the Afghan NGO Action Aid, where she conducted research on the situation of rural Afghan women and educated them about their rights, as well as organizing training on decision-making, despite being personally threatened for her work.
Wazhma Frogh is an Afghan women's rights activist.
Niloofar Rahmani is the first female fixed-wing Air Force aviator in Afghanistan's history and the first female pilot in the Afghan Air Force since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Though her family received death threats, she persevered to complete her training and won the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award in 2015.
Colonel Khalida Khalaf Hanna al-Twal is a Jordanian police officer. She is currently serving as one of the prominent highest-ranking women in security services of Jordan.
Canan Güllü is a Turkish activist who is the President of the Federation of Women Associations of Turkey (TKDF). She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2021.
Najla Mohammed El Mangoush is a Libyan diplomat and lawyer. She was Libya's foreign minister in Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh's government from 15 March 2021 until her dismissal on 28 August 2023. El Mangoush is Libya's first female foreign minister, and the fifth woman to hold the position of a foreign minister in the Arab World.
On 15 August 2021, the city of Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was captured by Taliban forces during the 2021 Taliban offensive, concluding the War in Afghanistan that began in 2001. The fall of Kabul provoked a range of reactions across the globe, including debates on whether to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, on the humanitarian situation in the country, on the outcome of the War, and the role of military interventionism in world affairs.
Simone Sibilio do Nascimento is a Brazilian human rights activist. She is a prosecutor in the Rio de Janeiro State's Public Ministry (MPRJ).She works against combating organized crime and public corruption, militias, and drug trafficking. She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2022.
Hadeel Abdel Aziz is a Jordanian Legal expert and human rights activist who is also a founding member and executive director of the Jordan-based NGO, Justice Center for Legal Aid (JCLA). Her work includes advocating for judicial reform, court automation, and providing access to justice projects through a network of legal aid clinics that help others in civil, criminal, and family, including Sharia law. On 8 March, she received the 2023 International Women of Courage Award, which was presented to her and other nominees by Jill Biden and Anthony J. Blinken at the U.S. Department of State. She is also the recipient of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law award, which was presented to her during the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty on 22 January 2023.
Meaza Mohammed is an Ethiopian journalist and Human rights activist. She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2023.
Doris Ríos is a human rights activist in particular working for the indigenous people in Costa Rica. She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2023.
Bianka Zalewska is a Polish humanitarian worker and journalist .She has covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine.She was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2023.