Over the last 40 years, the world has come far in our valuation of women and girls. When the Taliban first fell in 2001, girls, who had been prevented from receiving an education, were allowed to go to school. For Zakira Hekmat, who was born an internally displaced person in Afghanistan and completed high school secretly under the Taliban’s first period of control, this was a life-changing moment that gave her the space to become a medical doctor.

On March 8, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and First Lady Jill Biden, Ph.D., hosted the annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards ceremony at the White House, where they recognized MD. Zakira Hekmat for her ongoing courage and work. Just a few days later, she travelled to Kansas City through Global Ties KC and met with nonprofits in her similar field of work.

Also invited to the awards ceremony at the White House were the 2021 and 2022 IWOC awardees. Kansas City had hosted the IWOC awardee from Brazil in 2022, and from Iran in 2021, and it was truly amazing to see them all travel and be recognized in Washington, DC! Despite the logistical challenge of coordinating the return of the alumni alongside this year’s program (huge kudos to the DC team), it was inspiring to hear their stories and see the impact of having multiple years of exceptional recipients in one space. These women are some of the most hardworking and resilient people I’ve had the honor of meeting.

While it’s easy to focus on the prestige and publicity of the IWOC program, it’s important to remember that these women don’t receive the red-carpet treatment every day. That is what I find most special and amazing about the International Women of Courage program. The U.S. Department of State selects a group of leaders who have given their blood, sweat, tears, and incredible levels of self-sacrifice to make the world a better place and to support other women and vulnerable people. It is this dedication that makes these women truly deserving of recognition.

MD. Zakira Hekmat is a wonderful human, advocate, mother, nonprofit leader, medical doctor, and member of her community. She is the first IWOC awardee to ever make the decision to stand before two flags: that of Afghanistan, her home country, and Turkey, her adopted country.

After winning a scholarship to study in Türkiye, she eventually qualified as a medical doctor in 2018. Throughout her medical studies, MD. Hekmat volunteered with refugee assistance organizations where she recognized a need to advocate for marginalized refugee groups’ rights and access to services. From a one-room office, she founded the Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association in Türkiye in 2014, where she has since worked tirelessly to advocate for the rights of all refugees and women. As one of the few female leaders of a refugee-led community organization in Türkiye, she called on the Turkish government and public not to forget and assist those fleeing conflict and persecution, especially after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in the summer of 2021. Thanks to MD. Hekmat’s efforts, many Afghans, especially women, girls, and minorities, have received access to refugee protection and asylum.

MD. Hekmat’s time in Kansas City included meetings with a variety of refugee and women’s support organizations, as well as home hospitality, a concert, and a large community event at the Kansas City Kansas Rotary Club where she gave an incredibly moving presentation on the current realities of Afghanistan, where it is once again illegal for girls in Afghanistan to receive an education. This time around, that ban extends all the way down, where even elementary schools where girls are forbidden from an access to education.

Source: Global Ties Network News