This year, the world compassion award was given to Afghan Doctor Zakire Hekmat, who works in Turkey, by Taiwan-based Supreme Master Ching Hai. Hekmat was elected world peace ambassador in the USA in 2020.


Zakira Hekmat, who escaped from the persecution of the Taliban in Afghanistan and settled in Kayseri, founded the Afghan Refugee Solidarity and Assistance Association (ARSA) after studying and becoming a doctor in Turkey. Hekmat, who has been the benefactor of both refugees and Turkish families with his aid works, was elected world peace ambassador in the United States last year.

AFGHAN DOCTOR GOT SHINIGN WORLD AWARD

Afghan Doctor Zakire Hekmat, who was appreciated for his work with refugees, received an award from Taiwan. Hekmat was awarded this year's world mercy award by Taiwan-based international Supreme Master Ching Hai. Zakire Hekmat, who has been involved in the management of humanitarian activities since 2009; "It is a great pleasure for me to be given such a great award. I have tried to help all refugees without discriminating their nationality or race. It gives us strength to be rewarded for our work in this way," he said.

AWARDED 4TH TIME

Dr. Zakira Hekmat was awarded the "Young Leaders Award" by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Foundation in 2007, and the "Peace Ambassador of the Year" by the USA-based Hasna Organization in 2020. The young doctor also received the Angela Burdett-Coutts (Queen of the Poor) award, which was given for the first time in Turkey by the Center for Asylum and Migration Research (IGAM) for her international charity work. Zakire Hekmat was most recently awarded the 2021 World Mercy Award by the International Supreme Master Ching Hai community.

 

TURKEY IS MY HOMELAND

Afghan Doctor Zakire Hekmat stated that he escaped from the persecution of the Taliban and came to Turkey; "I came to Turkey after high school. I studied at Erciyes University and became a doctor. I studied thanks to Turkey. My place of birth is not important to me, the land where I breathe and live is my country. That's why Turkey is my homeland," he said.

HELPING OUT THOSE IN NEED FOR 12 YEARS

Doctor Zakire Hekmat, who founded the Afghan Refugees Aid and Solidarity Association in Turkey; "I established a network of 370 refugee volunteers in 52 cities of Turkey. Together with my team, I work on language education, cultural and social cohesion, activities to empower women, capacity building, child protection, refugee rights, prevention of discrimination against women and children, education of girls and integration. Our association organized 187 different activities and served nearly 80 thousand people in 2009-2020. I have dedicated myself to helping not only refugees but also the Turkish people, to whom I owe my loyalty. For this, we produced and distributed masks and soaps with our volunteers during the pandemic period. In addition, We also distributed baby and adult hygiene kits, toys, baby food. We distributed hygiene packages to 6,000 Turkish and refugee families."

Source: Sabah Newspaper