“Protecting Minorities is a Choice,” Nobel Winner Nadia Murad Tells UAE Conference

October 25, 2018, Emma Day

Read Vogue Arabia article here.

In her first major public appearance since winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad called for the global community to support and seek justice for minorities. The 25-year-old Iraqi activist delivered a keynote address at the Investing in the Future Conference in Sharjah on Wednesday, where she recounted her extraordinary story for attendees, before urging the world to help refugees return to home.

“I did not choose this life,” said Murad, according to The National. “It was imposed on me because of what we have undergone as a minority. Many minorities have had a history of persecution. Women, in particular, have suffered greatly as they have been the continuous victims of sexual violence. We are still undergoing that in captivity. The international community must take serious steps to support minorities.”

The activist and campaigner, who was jointly awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize this month, was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery by Islamic State militants in 2016. After making her brave escape, she has used her experience to campaign tirelessly to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Murad has also established the Sinjar Action Fund (SAF), a humanitarian initiative that, among other goals, hopes to held rebuild the Sinjar province, where many Yazidi people lived before fleeing from conflict. When Islamic State arrived in her village in 2014, Murad lost her mother and six brothers amid the violence.

“I recently committed to donating 100% of my Nobel Peace Prize money to SAF, but a single prize, and a single person cannot accomplish these goals,” Murad told the UAE conference. “I stand before you today to call on all governments and non-governmental organizations to join us in our efforts. If we are united in this fight, we can make a difference.”

The activist, who is the first Iraqi woman to be honored with the Peace Prize, also told guests that rebuilding and protecting minorities is “a choice”, urging others to make the right choice. “Let humanity unite us,” said Murad. “For hope and humanity is the choice we can give our children – it is what our children deserve.”