Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi has won the 2015 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nansen Refugee Award.
As a teacher, she has been recognised for her tireless and brave dedication to educate Afghan refugee girls in the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan by overcoming the struggles of life in exile.
Asifi is a former teacher who fled from Kabul, Afghanistan with her family in 1992 for finding safety in the remote refugee settlement of Kot Chandana in Pakistan.
In the refugee camp she started teaching Afghan refugee girls by overcoming strict conservative cultural traditions which does not allow Afghan women to learn.
About UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, once in 1954 and again in 1981.
- Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland and is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
- Award carries: Commemorative medal and monetary prize of 100,000 US dollars. The laureate uses the monetary prize to fund a project that complements their existing work.