Amina Azimi

Amina Azimi is an advocate for disabled women's rights in Afghanistan. In 2012 she won the N-Peace Award.

Amina Azimi
NationalityAfghan
OccupationActivist
Known forN-Peace Award recipient

Biography

Born in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Azimi lost her right leg at age 11 as a result of her home being hit by a rocket propelled grenade during the ongoing Afghan Civil War.[1] Her injury put her in the large group of disabled Afghans in a country that has one of the highest percentages, by population, of disabled people in the world.[2][3] As a disabled person, Azimi encountered problems returning to school and subsequently faced discrimination when she sought employment.[4] Azimi became an advocate of for the rights of disabled women from Afghanistan.[2]

In 2007 she founded the Women with Disabilities Advocacy Committee (WAAC). She created the Empowering Women with Disabilities organization (EWD) in 2011.[5] In 2012 Azimi was awarded the N-Peace Award as an Emerging Peace Champion.[6]

Azimi advocated for elimination of discrimination against landmine survivors as a presenter and journalist for a radio program called Qahir-e-Qahraman. The program was first supported by UNDP’s National Programme for Action on Disability, then the UN Mine Action Center for Afghanistan and Internews.[4] She works for Afghan Landmine Survivors' Organisation (ALSO).

References
  1. "Afghanistan: Landminenüberlebene stärken Rechte der Frauen". Landmine.de (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  2. Gentile, Carmen. "Disabled Afghans find a voice, advocate in radio program". USA Today. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. ""Disability Is Not Weakness: Discrimination and Barriers Facing Women and Girls with Disabilities in Afghanistan"". Human Rights Watch. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  4. "Amina Azimi: Raising the Voices of the Disabled in Afghanistan". Internews. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  5. "Amina Azimi". N-PEACE. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. "ICBL Afghan campaigner wins Emerging Peace Champion". International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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