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Kurdish rights activist Payzee Mahmod (left) and Yazda Organization’s Legal Advocacy Director Natia Navrouzov (right). Photo: Obama Foundation Leaders; Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish women’s rights activist and a survivor of child marriage on Tuesday was selected as one of the 2022 Obama Foundation Leaders Europe program.
Payzee Mahmod was announced as one of the new Obama Foundation Europe Leaders, along with Yazidi-rights activist and Yazda Organization’s Legal Advocacy Director Natia Navrouzov and 34 others. The program aims to inspire, empower and connect regional cohorts of change makers to accelerate positive and lasting change in their communities and throughout the region.
Obama Foundation Leaders hail from a wide variety of nations and territories, work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, and address a full range of social impact issues, according to the foundation's website. During their virtual six month program experience, the leaders build a strong community of support founded on a shared vision of values-based leadership.
“It’s an honor to join the global network of Obama Foundation Leaders. As part of the Leaders Europe cohort, I’m excited to join fellow Leaders doing the work in Asia Pacific and Africa,” Payzee told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
“Together, we are driving sustainable change locally and all around the world. I am especially proud to represent my Kurdish roots in such a remarkable programme,” she added.
Payzee is working to ban child marriage in the United Kingdom and Europe, as Kurdish girls in the UK have been among the most high-profile cases of child marriage and the sometimes deadly repercussions faced if they dare to resist familial and societal pressure.
She dedicates the step to her sister, Banaz, who was targeted by her family after leaving her abusive arranged marriage and pursuing a relationship of her choosing. Banaz went to the police five times before her body was found buried in the back garden of a house. Her cousins had raped then strangled her, all in the name of restoring family honor.
Navrouzov, who is a Yazidi from Georgia and has been working in Iraq since 2018, leads the Yazda NGO, which supports the victims of the Yazidi genocide. It has provided the Yazidi survivors of the Islamic State (ISIS) with humanitarian, accountability and advocacy services since it was founded in 2014, following the terror group’s invasion of the Yazidi heartland of Shingal. The militant group imposed their so-called caliphate rule with extreme brutality and violence. They systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children.
"It’s an honor to join the global network of Obama Foundation Leaders. I can’t wait to hear more about the work of the Obama Foundation and the other selected leaders," Navrouzov told Rudaw English over WhatsApp.
"I hope to use this platform to continue to raise awareness on the atrocities committed by ISIS against the Yazidi community and other minorities of Iraq."
Under her direction, survivors’ testimonies and crime sites have been documented for submission to national and international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), and have led to the first genocide conviction of an ISIS member for crimes against Yazidi victims, according to Yazda.
Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama congratulated the new cohort for the program early Wednesday.
Updated at 3:00 pm
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