World Leaders Forum Welcomes Nobel Prize Winner Nadia Murad

"Our faith is in our actions." - Nadia Murad

Human rights activist and recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, is a harrowing account of the genocide against the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in Iraq and Nadia's imprisonment by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).

On Wednesday, November 20, Seton Hall proudly welcomes Nadia Murad back to the University. Murad will meet with students and be the featured speaker at the World Leaders Forum. Presented by the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Murad's address will take place at 4 p.m. on the South Orange Campus at Bethany Hall A. Click here to register.

Nadia Murad received an honorary doctoral degree for Seton Hall in September 2019, when the University hosted a Forum on Modern Slavery. Murad gave the keynote address as part conference which examined issues related to human trafficking, including modern slavery in the U.S., slavery as an instrument of war, and approaches for eradicating human trafficking.

"We are privileged to welcome Nadia back to Seton Hall and we look forward to engaging with her personally as a community. Her tireless advocacy is crucial to raising awareness about genocide against the Yazidi people and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. She is an inspiration to our students," said Courtney Smith, dean of the School of Diplomacy and vice dean of the School of Law.

Born and raised in Kocho, a small farming village in northern Iraq, Nadia dreamed of becoming a history teacher or opening her own beauty salon. But on August 15, 2014, at the age of 21, her dreams were shattered when Islamic State militants slaughtered people in her Yazidi village who refused to convert to Islam, taking women as sex slaves. Six of Nadia's brothers, along with her mother, were killed in the Sinjar massacre.

Terrified, Murad ran from gunshots, but was abducted, raped, beaten and sold into sexual slavery. After three months of captivity in a camp alongside thousands of Yazidi women and girls, she managed a narrow escape. Murad found shelter with a family in Mosul whose eldest son risked his life to smuggle her to safety. Once free, she began speaking out on behalf of her community and survivors of sexual violence worldwide. "Those of us who were there," she wrote, "cannot forget what happened or how the world ignored our cries for help."

Nadia Murad meets with Sinjar massacre survivors in Kocho, where she was abducted in 2014.

In 2016, Murad announced Nadia's Initiative, which provides advocacy and assistance to victims of genocide. That year she also became the first UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. In 2017, as part of the goal to counter terrorism, Murad pressured the United Nations Security Council to launch an investigation into the actions of ISIS against the Yazidi people. The result, UN Resolution 2379, was passed on September 21, 2017 and "authorized the creation of an independent team to investigate crimes relating to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Iraq.

She was also awarded the Council of Europe Václav Havel Award for Human Rights and Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. In 2018, she won the Nobel Peace Prize with Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege. Together, they founded the Global Survivors Fund. She is the first Iraqi and Yazidi to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In her capacity as a member of France's Gender Advisory Council, Nadia advocated G7 member states to adopt legislation that protects and promotes women's rights. Nadia worked with the German Mission to the United Nations to pass UN Security Council Resolution 2467, which expands the UN's commitments to end sexual violence in conflict. Nadia was also a driving force behind the drafting and passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2379, which established the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD).

Murad is President and Chairwoman of Nadia's Initiative, which actively works to persuade governments and international organizations to support the sustainable re-development of the Yazidi homeland, as well as survivors of sexual violence globally.

More on Nadia's Initiative

Nadia and youngsters at the inauguration of the Yazidi Genocide Memorial

Nadia's Initiative is dedicated to rebuilding communities in crisis and advocating globally for survivors of sexual violence. The Initiative's current work is focused on the sustainable re-development of the Yazidi homeland in Sinjar, Iraq, where Nadia grew up. When ISIS launched their genocidal campaign, they not only killed and kidnapped Yazidis, but also destroyed the Yazidi homeland to ensure the community could never return.

Nadia's Initiative partners with local communities and local and international organizations to design, support and implement projects that promote the restoration of education, healthcare, livelihoods, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), culture and women's empowerment in the region. All Nadia's Initiative programs are community-driven, survivor-centric, and designed to promote long-term peacebuilding. The Initiative advocates for governments and international organizations to support efforts to rebuild Sinjar, seek justice for Yazidis, improve security in the region, and support survivors of sexual violence worldwide.

Engaging with Global Leaders

The World Leaders Forum, presented by the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, provides an opportunity for speakers to encourage dialogue in search of new avenues for building peace. As part of this signature program, the School of Diplomacy has welcomed United Nations Secretaries-General António Guterres, Ban Ki-Moon and Kofi Annan, UNGA President Ambassador Csaba Kőrösi and Dennis Frances; U.S. Ambassadors to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Samantha Power and Susan Rice, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Nobel Peace Prize winners Nadia Murad and Leymah Gbowee, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tony Blair, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, and former President of Poland Lech Walesa, among other distinguished visitors.

About the School of Diplomacy

An affiliate member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, the Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations is a professional school offering graduate and undergraduate programs, online and in person. The school embraces Seton Hall's long tradition of a values-based education emphasizing servant leadership, seeking to make a substantive impact in solving global challenges. With a diverse student body and faculty, intimate class sizes and an agile curriculum, diplomacy students are colleagues, working on collaborative research, policy and field work and innovations alongside faculty. To learn more, click here.

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