{"id":5038,"date":"2015-06-28T16:51:46","date_gmt":"2015-06-28T15:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=5038"},"modified":"2015-06-28T16:51:46","modified_gmt":"2015-06-28T15:51:46","slug":"global-honor-for-thoraya-obaid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/global-honor-for-thoraya-obaid\/","title":{"rendered":"Global honor for Thoraya Obaid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Global<\/a>In recognition of her role in the field of population and health, Shoura Council member Thoraya Obaid received an award from the United Nations Population Fund at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.
\nThe United Nations honored Obaid as well as the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), both recipients of the 2015 United Nations Population Award, at a ceremony held at the UN headquarters.
\nThe winners were recognized for their outstanding contributions to human rights, reproductive health, gender equality and population research.
\n\u201cOur two winners have blazed trails in improving lives and achieving sustainable development,\u201d said UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson at the awards ceremony. \u201c(They) deserve this recognition and our gratitude for their contributions,\u201d he said.
\nObaid was the first woman to receive a scholarship from the Saudi government to study in the US and the first woman to be nominated by Saudi Arabia to head a UN agency. She was also the first Muslim woman to receive a medal from Union Theological Seminary and the first woman to be named Person of the Year by the late King Abdullah.
\nObaid was decorated with the King Abdul Aziz Medal at the 28th National Festival of Heritage and Culture (Janadriya).
\nObaid insists on sharing credit for her accomplishments with people who supported her such as her father. \u201cHe could not afford to send me to the US for my university education,\u201d she said, explaining that he helped her get a scholarship to study abroad. \u201cIt was my father who saw the opportunity for women to break the glass ceiling, and he pushed me to do so.\u201d
\nThe experience has resonated with her throughout her career, demonstrating, she said, \u201cthe role of men in supporting the empowerment of women.\u201d
\nObaid is a lifelong champion of women\u2019s and young people\u2019s heath and empowerment. She joined the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in 1975, focusing on the link between women\u2019s empowerment and population dynamics. In 1998, she joined UNFPA and eventually rose to the rank of executive director.
\nShe has been widely recognized for highlighting the importance of culture in advancing human rights. \u201cI believe firmly that no change can come from the outside. It has to originate within the community,\u201d she told UNFPA in an interview.
\n\u201cYes, there can be universal ideals such as universal human rights, but making them a reality has to be the work of the people themselves in their own communities. And they have to feel proud that they have values in their culture and belief systems that resonate with universal human rights.\u201d
\nObaid recalled a moment that illustrated these ideas. During her tenure with ESCWA, she was visiting a women\u2019s literacy class in a rural area. \u201cA blind old woman had brought her daughter-in-law to the class. She said, \u2018I want my daughter-in-law to learn to read and write, not to remain like my generation \u2014 illiterate.\u2019 She was there to support her daughter-in-law and to protect her from any possible criticism from her society.\u201d
\n\u201cThe old woman herself was physically blind, but certainly she had a clear vision of where she wanted her family and her country to be,\u201d added Obaid. -arabnews<\/em><\/p>\n

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