DailyMirror
A Sri Lankan woman activist for the displaced persons is among the 10 winners of this year’s US Department of State, International Women of Courage (IWOC) award, the US embassy in Colombo announced yesterday. Award winner Jansila Majeed has been a displaced person herself for 20 years.
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will present the awards to the recipients at the State Department, Washington on March 10.
The annual International Women of Courage Award started in 2007 by former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, recognizing women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating women’s rights and their advancement.
According to Ms. Majeed’s biography published by the State Department, she is the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund in Puttalam district which oversees a number of programmes on women’s issues including women’s rights, peace building, relief work, working with young people and mine-risk education in the north and east.
The other awardees this year are: Shukria Asil (Afghanistan), Col. Shafiqa Quraishi (Afghanistan), Androula Henriques (Cyprus), Sonia Pierre (Dominican Republic), Shadi Sadr (Iran), Ann Njogu (Kenya), Dr. Lee Ae-ran (Republic of Korea), Sister Marie Claude Naddaf (Syria), and Jestina Mukoko (Zimbabwe).