Asma Jahangir wins prestigious UN Prize: Munizae receives award on mother’s behalf

NEW YORK: Late lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir has been awarded the  United Nations Human Rights Prize for 2018. Her daughter Munizae Jahangir received the prestigious award on the behalf of her mother. 

The award is given to individuals and organisations in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights. Asma was announced as one of the four winners of the quinquennial prize in October.

Receiving the award on her late mother’s behalf, Munizae dedicated it to Pakistani women and their courage. The ceremony was held at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

Other prize winners include women's rights activist in Tanzania, Rebeca Gyumi, activist for the rights of indigenous Brazilian communities Joênia Wapichana and Ireland’s human rights organisation Front Line Defenders. 

Previous winners include Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and Malala Yousafzai.

It is worth mentioning here that Asma becomes the fourth Pakistani woman to be awarded the UN Human Rights Prize. Before her, Begum Ra’Ana Liaquat Ali Khan (1978), Benazir Bhutto (2008) and Malala Yousufzai (2013) had been accorded the honour.

Asma, who breathed her last  in February this year, was known for her outspoken nature and unrelenting pursuit for human rights as well as for remaining undaunted in the face of extreme pressure and opposition.

She is also remembered as a champion of the disenfranchised and for her services towards building a democratic and more inclusive Pakistan.