Nadia Murad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nadia Murad
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| نادیە موراد | |
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Murad in 2018
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| Born |
Nadia Murad Basee Taha
10 March 1993 Kocho, Iraq
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| Nationality | Kurdish |
| Citizenship |  Iraq |
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Notable work
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| Spouse(s) |
Abid Shamdeen
(m. 2018) |
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Nadia Murad Basee Taha (born 10 March 1993) is an Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist who lives in Germany. In 2014, she was kidnapped from her hometown Kocho and held by the Islamic State for three months.
Murad is the founder of Nadia's Initiative, an organization dedicated to helping women and children victimized by genocides, mass atrocities to heal and rebuild their lives and communities.
In 2018, she and Denis Mukwege were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the first Iraqi and Yazidi to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
In 2016, Murad was named the first UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
Contents
Early life
Murad was born in the village of Kocho in Sinjar District, Iraq, populated mostly by Yazidi people. Her family, of the Yazidi minority, were farmers.
Murad is the youngest of 11 children, not including her four older half siblings. Murad's father married her mother after the death of his first wife, who left him with four children. Both of her parents were devout Yazidis, though Murad did not know much about the religion growing up. Murad's father died in 2003.
As a child, Murad dreamed of owning a hair salon. She was attached to her home and never imagined leaving Kocho to live elsewhere.
Activism
On 3 May 2017, Murad met Pope Francis and Archbishop Gallagher in Vatican City. During the meeting, she "asked for help for Yazidis who are still in ISIS captivity, acknowledged the Vatican support for minorities, discussed the scope for an autonomous region for minorities in Iraq, highlighted the current situation and challenges facing religious minorities in Iraq and Syria particularly the victims and internally displaced people as well as immigrants".
In 2018, Murad's activism focused on security and accountability. Along Nadia's Initiative, Murad worked with the Mine's Advisory Group (MAG) to demine more than 2.6 million square meters of land in Sinjar, Iraq. She was also instrumental in drafting and passing UN Security Council Resolution 2379. The resolution called for the creation of an Investigative Team, headed by a Special Advisor, to support domestic efforts to hold ISIL (Da'esh) accountable by collecting, preserving, and storing evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by the terrorist group ISIL (Da'esh).
Murad also took part in advocating for G7 member states to adopt legislation that protects and promotes women's rights as a member of France's Gender Advisory Council.
Murad urged the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan region to play its role in rebuilding Yazidi areas in Sinjar District and returning the refugees back home. Nechirvan Barzani announced his full support “to the humanitarian role she plays in service of peace and the Yazidi victims,” said the statement.
In 2019, Murad addressed the second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom where she spoke about her story and the ongoing challenges faced by Yazidis nearly five years after the 3 August 2014 attacks. She laid out a "five-point plan of action" to address the challenges Yazidis face in Iraq. Murad was included among a delegation of survivors of religious persecution from around the world whose stories were highlighted at the summit. As part of the delegation, on 17 July 2019, Murad met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office with whom she shared her personal story of having lost her family members, including her mother and six brothers, and pleaded with him to do something.
Nadia's Initiative
In September 2016, Murad announced Nadia's Initiative at an event hosted by Tina Brown in New York City. The Initiative intends to provides advocacy and assistance to victims of genocide.
Global Survivors Fund
With her fellow 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege, Murad founded the Global Survivors Fund in October 2019. The Fund works to ensure that survivors of conflict-related violence globally have access to reparations and other forms of redress.
Writings
Memoir
Murad's memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, was published by Crown Publishing Group on 7 November 2017, which is an autobiographical in which she describes being captured and enslaved by the Islamic State. The book has been released in 44 languages including French (Pour que je sois la dernière), German (Ich bin eure Stimme: Das Mädchen, das dem Islamischen Staat entkam und gegen Gewalt und Versklavung kämpft), Arabic (الفتاة الاخيرة: قصتي مع الأسر ومعركتي ضد تنظيم داعش), Italian (L'ultima ragazza), and Spanish (Yo seré la última: Historia de mi cautiverio y mi lucha contra el Estado Islámico).
Personal life
In August 2018, Murad became engaged to fellow Yazidi human rights activist Abid Shamdeen. They married later that year.
Awards and honours
Nobel Peace Prize
Also in 2018, Murad was co-winner (with Denis Mukwege, an African gynaecologist) of the Nobel Peace Prize. The press release from the prize committee cited her refusal to remain 'silent', and spoke of her courage in highlighting her own ordeal and that of other victims.
Other Prizes
- 2016: First Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations
- 2016: Council of Europe Václav Havel Award for Human Rights
- 2016: Glamour Award for The Women Who Stood Up to ISIS
- 2016: Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (with Lamiya Haji Bashar)
- 2016: Clinton Global Citizen Award
- 2016: United Nations Association of Spain Peace Prize
- 2016: TIME 100 Most Influential People
- 2016: Oxi Courage Award
- 2017: Forbes 30 Under 30
- 2018: Nobel Peace Prize (with Denis Mukwege)
- 2018: Hillary Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security
- 2018: Global Goals Changemaker Award
- 2018: Elisabeth B. Weintz Humanitarian Award
- 2019: Bambi Award
- 2019: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
- 2019: International DVF Award
- 2019: Seton Hall University Honorary Doctorate
- 2019: Marisa Bellisario International Prize
- 2020: Vital Voices Global Trailblazer Award
- 2020: Justice O'Connor Prize
- 2020: Frank and Cheri Hermance Atlas Award
- 2021: UC Merced Spendlove Prize
- 2022: Chapman University Presidential Fellow
Filmography
- On Her Shoulders
- Ôtages, produced by Garai Gold Production in Morocco
See also
In Spanish: Nadia Murad para niños
