The U.S. Department of State will present the Afghan Zakira Hekmat, who graduated from medical school in Turkey and led a non-governmental organization as well as being a doctor, with the International Women of Courage Award on March 8.

The International Women of Courage Award (IWOC), which has been given by the US Department of State for 17 years, will be presented to its owners on March 8, Women's Day, at a ceremony hosted by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and First Lady Jill Biden. Afghan doctor Zakira Hekmat, residing in Turkey, is among the 11 women who were deemed worthy of the award this year.

AWARD CRITERIA

Among the criteria of the award, which has been given to more than 180 women from more than 80 countries around the world since March 2007, is to show an example of courage and strength in the empowerment of women and girls, as well as peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and equality and it often involves taking personal risks and performing with self-sacrifice.

In 2021, the same award was given to Canan Güllü, the President of the Federation of Women's Associations of Turkey (TKDF), for her efforts in establishing the Domestic Violence Hotline.

WHO IS ZAKİRA HEKMAT?

Born in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, Zakira Hekmat completed high school secretly during the first term of the Taliban. Meanwhile, Hekmat, who won a scholarship to study in Turkey, started his education at Erciyes University and became a medical doctor in 2018 and started working in Kayseri.

When she realized the importance of advocating for the rights and access to basic services of refugee communities excluded from society during her university education, she also volunteered for refugee aid organizations.

In 2014, she rented a one-room office and founded the Afghan Refugees Solidarity  Association (ARSA) in Turkey and has since worked tirelessly to defend the rights of all refugees and women.

Md. Hekmat was awarded the "Young Leaders Award" by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Foundation in 2007, and the "Peace Ambassador of the Year" title given by the USA-based Hasna Organization in 2020.

Zakira Hekmat had also called on the Turkish government to help those who fled the conflict in Afghanistan and took refuge in Turkey after Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban in the summer of 2021.

Md. Hekmat also held a meeting in Ankara with Rina Amiri, the US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights, in December last year.

"Thanks to Hekmat's efforts, many Afghans, especially women, girls and minorities, have had access to refugee protection and asylum," the US State Department's statement released before the award ceremony said.

OTHER NAMES THAT RECEIVE THE AWARD

Other names receiving the 2023 IWOC Awards include; Alba Rueda, currently the special envoy on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina and the first transgender person to hold a senior government position in her country, Doris Rios, a member and leader of Costa Rica's indigenous community called China Kichá, former president of the Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic Professor Daniele Darlan, journalist Meaza Mohammed reporting news about women victims of gender-based violence in Ethiopia on her independent YouTube channel, Jordanian human rights activist Hadeel Abdel Aziz, human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toregozhina in Kazakhstan, Senator Datuk Ras Adiba, who especially defends the rights of the disabled in Malaysian society Radzi, Brigadier General Bolor Ganbold, the first female soldier assigned to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Mongolia, Polish journalist Bianka Zalewska, who has been making documentaries since 2014 to defend the rights of the Ukrainian people, and Yuliia Paiev, a Ukrainian rights defender imprisoned by Russia for three months ska is included.

Source: The Wall Newspaper

Violet Tokyaymtokyay@gazeteduvar.com.tr