Winner of the Arab Woman of the Year 2022 award in London
The international conference of the London Arabia Organisation, which honours influential Arab women in society who have led revolutions of change in social awareness and educational campaigns, opened today. The Arab Woman of the Year 2022 was honoured in the presence of the British Princess Sophie, wife of Prince Edward, the London Arabia Organisation's ambassador, film star Yasmine Sabri, and members of the British House of Lords, with the support of the Mayor of London.
Nada Al-Ahdal was the youngest winner of the Arab Woman award this year. She drew the attention of those present to the issue of child marriage and put it in the spotlight with a surprising gesture that astonished the audience: tearing apart a board with "Child Marriage" written on it, separating childhood from marriage, and then adding the comment: keep children away from marriage.
Nada Al-Ahdal has been known worldwide for fighting child marriage since 2013, when she nearly became a victim of early marriage and released a video on YouTube that was watched 8 million times in just two days and was translated into several languages around the world. All the activists, human rights defenders and journalists stood in solidarity with her to win the cause of child marriage. After that she went from victim to human rights activist: a French publishing house released a book about her that was translated into several languages, she was honoured with international awards, and she founded a human rights organisation, "Nada Foundation for the Protection of Girls' Rights". The foundation won the award for the best organisation in the Arab world and North Africa in London for 2019, and then launched a number of programmes to protect girls in Yemen.
The Arab Woman of the Year 2022 award is held every year to honour women who have devoted their lives to making an impact on society and have launched initiatives to defend and protect women. Nada was the first winner for defending against child marriage. According to her speech on the conference stage, she dedicated this award to the Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for the change he has brought about in women's rights, and especially for banning child marriage through royal decrees circulated to the courts, as well as to His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, for his decisions banning child marriage in Egypt. She described them as great leaders, who brought about rapid change in stopping the trafficking of children under the pretext of marriage.
It is worth noting that Al-Ahdal renewed her thanks and her dedication of the award to the Saudi Crown Prince and President el-Sisi in a tweet on Twitter and in the media, to affirm that they are the ones who deserve the award and should be honoured and their decisions remembered. She said: "I hope the rest of the Arab countries will follow their example."
