The NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York is proud to introduce Gharsanay IbnulAmeen as its 2019 Woman of Distinction at the NGO CSW63 Forum Consultation Day, held March 10, 2019 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.
Each year, this award is given to a woman in recognition of her leadership in the struggle for gender equality, human rights and women’s empowerment. As a global coalition of hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals, NGO CSW/NY organizes the NGO CSW Forum that runs in parallel with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, sponsoring 350+ events and bringing in thousands from around the world. At NGO CSW63 Forum, we are honored to recognize Gharsanay IbnulAmeen’s unwavering advocacy for girls’ and women’s education, political participation and leadership.
Our youngest award recipient to date, Gharsanay is a 22 year old grassroots advocate and co-founder of the Afghan Girls Sustainable Education Project and the Global Youth Development program. Through her work, she has increased enrollment and school completion rates of girls in her community and has created avenues to connect young women with professional and peer mentors from across the world to drive academic and professional development. Gharsanay also leads the Young Women’s Leadership Conference in Afghanistan, where she has organized capacity building workshops of over a 1000 participants.
As a leader within her community, Gharsanay has worked across Afghanistan, advocating with diverse stakeholders such as the President of Afghanistan and local tribal leaders, to strengthen girls and women’s access to education and political participation. Most recently, she worked with the Afghan national government to bring in more than 5000 youth to the Afghani Presidential Palace, to work for women’s participation in peace building, poverty reduction, and policy reformation processes.
As a young woman in Afghanistan, Gharsanay IbnulAmeen’s has overcome many challenges and has dedicated her life to driving progress for gender equality. Her other accomplishments include receiving the 2017 Emerging Young Leader’s Award by the U.S. State Department; the Responsible Citizen Award by the First Lady of Afghanistan and the 2018 Enterprise for Peace Scholarship (One Young World Summit).
Gharsanay knows that educating and including girls and women is a powerful and sustainable investment that benefits both individuals and society as a whole. Come hear Gharsanay share her thoughts and wisdom on empowering girls and women at the NGO CSW63 Forum! Gharsanay will give the keynote address during NGO CSW63 Forum Consultation Day, held March 10, 2019 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. We look forward to welcoming you!
