Refugee women take centre stage at WOW Festival 2016

On Friday March 11th, the Women on the Move Awards, taking place at Southbank Centre’s WOW – Women of the World Festival, will celebrate exceptional refugee women who – against the odds - have made an outstanding contribution to women's empowerment and integration. These women fled  their homes and loved ones, escaping  war and persecution, and managed not only to build a new life for themselves and their families, but also to support and inspire people and communities across the UK.

The awards are presented by Samira Ahmed and co-hosted by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Migrants Organise and the event is part of WOW 2016’s focus on the plight of women refugees.

Director Phyllida Lloyd will present the award to the Woman of the Year, Mariam Ibrahim Yusuf. Mariam arrived in the UK in 2008 fleeing war and gender-based violence in Somalia and leaving behind her two children, convinced that they would soon join her. But eight years later, having been detained, destitute and homeless, Mariam is still stuck in the asylum system.  Wanting something positive to come out of her experience, Mariam has dedicated her time to campaigning to ensure that asylum-seekers are not forced into similar hardships. A tireless champion for the rights of women who have experienced domestic violence and FGM, Mariam is a source of support and hope for many people who are seeking protection and trying to rebuild their lives. She is not giving up hope of seeing her children again.

On winning the award, Mariam says: “If we did not speak out, no one would know what happened to us. It’s important for a woman who is vulnerable to say to the community that she is living in, ‘I am here, I am human’. I have come from a terrible background, but I have come so far. Winning the award means that somebody somewhere has been watching what I’ve been doing and my work hasn’t gone unnoticed. It gives me the courage and energy to go out there and do more.”

The Young Woman of the Year Award presented by Livia Firth, will go to 21 year-old Seada Fekadu. At the age of 16 she fled Eritrea and found her way to the UK, via Calais, on the back of the truck, on her own.  She was quickly granted refugee status and soon started volunteering, becoming a mentor and a role model to many young people. Seada is a powerful advocate for many of those who often do not have a voice and who, like she once was, are children seeking protection and trying to start a new life on their own. She is about to go to university to fulfil her dream of giving back to Britain by becoming a doctor.

Seada says:   “I was always told that even as a girl, you should have the right to speak up, to choose your future and make a difference to your country. I couldn’t do that in Eritrea but here in the UK I want to help others because I have been given a new chance in life. I want people to know that refugees are human too. We may come from a different part of the world but if we help each other we can make a difference.”

The ceremony also celebrates outstanding media coverage of the protection needs of refugee and migrant women. This year’s media award, named after the highly-respected journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts, who died in 2015, goes to Channel 4 News for its undercover investigation into the detention of women in Yarl's Wood.

The Awards also recognise Citizens UK as champion of the year. Citizens UK coordinated the Refugees Welcome movement in 85 towns and cities across the country and successfully campaigned to increase the number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK in 2015.

Event Details

Southbank Centre’s WOW – Women of the World Festival

Celebrate the inspirational contributions by migrant and refugee women to UK society.

The Women on the Move Awards are a way of thanking these committed and courageous women. Be inspired by their energy, initiative and leadership in the face of extraordinary challenges. Presented by Samira Ahmed.

Tickets £12

Royal Festival Hall, 7pm

MEDIA AND PHOTOGRAPHERS WELCOME

For more tickets, photos or to arrange an interview with the award-winners, please contact:

• Laura Padoan, UNHCR, on +44(0) 777 5566127 or [email protected]

Video and photo footage of the winners are available here:

Mariam: https://youtu.be/HRlOGalFAQM

Seada: https://youtu.be/HNO4g_O7-tY

WOW - Women of the World Festival was launched by Southbank Centre Artistic Director Jude Kelly CBE in 2011, the centenary of International Women's Day. It has since grown into the largest women's festival network in the world, involving over a million people across five continents. Over the last five years, WOW has presented among many others, Nobel Peace Prize-winning Malala Yousafzai, Salma Hayek-Pinault, Alice Walker, Vivienne Westwood, Christine Lagarde, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown MP, Annie Lennox, Ruby Wax, Patrick Stewart, Sinead O'Connor, Jessye Norman, Julie Walters, Naomi Wolf, Nawal El Sadaawi, Cherie Blair, Kiran Bedi, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and many women who don’t have public profiles but have done extraordinary things. Opening on International Women's Day, the 6th London WOW festival will take place at Southbank Centre from 8th - 13th of March 2016. The festival will again feature a varied programme of concerts, performances, workshops and talks and debates, bringing together thousands of women and girls alongside activists, politicians, business leaders and artists to discuss gender equality and how women and men can drive solutions to close the gender gap. For more information please visit wow.southbankcentre.co.uk

About the Women on the Move Awards

The Women on the Move Awards in 2015 are jointly organised by the Migrants Organise and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and Awards Ceremony will be held at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Women of the World Festival on Friday 11th March at 7pm, and will be presented by Samira Ahmed.

The Women on the Move Awards were set up in 2012 to celebrate the contribution of migrant and refugee women to the UK. The founder, Zrinka Bralo, Chief Executive of Migrants Organise was inspired by winning in 2011 a Voices of Courage Award run by the Women’s Refugee Commission in New York.