2005 Human Security Award Ceremony

Strong Women, Strong Nations

featuring a keynote address by

Zainab Salbi

recipient of the

2005 Human Security Award

On November 4, 2005 Members of the Orange County community gathered for the Human Security Summit at the University of California Irvine, sponsored by the Coalition Advocating Human Security (CAHS), a program of UC, Irvine's Center for Unconventional Security Affairs’ (CUSA). The summit featured "Strong Women, Strong Nations," a keynote address by Zainab Salbi. Salbi is author of the recently released Between Two Worlds: Escape From Tyranny – Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, which chronicles her childhood in Iraq, where her father was a pilot for Saddam Hussein. Salbi is founder and CEO of Women for Women International, which helps women in war-torn regions become self-sufficient. Salbi was introduced by Heather Mills McCartney, who received the Human Security Award in 2004.

During the keynote address, CAHS presented Zainab Salbi was presented with the 2005 Human Security Award in recognition of her significant contributions and longstanding commitment to empowering and protecting the world’s most vulnerable groups and communities.

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources they need to move from crisis and poverty into self-sufficient and active citizens who promote peace and stability. An Iraqi native who arrived in the U.S. at age 20, Ms Salbi’s experience with the Iran-Iraq War and later the Gulf War sensitized her to the plight of women survivors of war and led her to found Women for Women International at age 23. Women for Women International’s programs have helped 52,000 women and more than 140,000 of their family members, and distributed nearly $21 million in direct aid and small loans.

Learn more about Zainab Salbi...

- 2005 Human Security Graduate Fellowships -

During the Human Security Award Ceremony, CAHS also announced the winners of its 2005 Graduate Fellowships in Human Security. CAHS awards two types of Fellowships each year. The first fellowship, the Heather Mills McCartney Graduate Fellowship in Human Security, was established in 2004 in honor of the significant contributions to human security issues made by Heather Mills McCartney. This fellowship allows graduate students to undertake original research on pressing security issues, and enables CUSA to help prepare the next generation of business, policy, and academic leaders for the challenges they will face. Heather Mills McCartney returned to UCI for the second time to personally present the 2005 Heather Mills McCartney Graduate Fellowship in Human Security to:

• Dina Giannikopoulos, for her project "Disability and Poverty Alleviation: A Cambodian Case Study"

CAHS also announced the creation of the Coalition Advocating Human Security Fellowship. CAHS graduate fellowship winners advance CAHS’s mission of promoting research, education, public awareness, and evidence-based policymaking to address urgent cases of vulnerability linked to global changes that impact the lives of individuals, communities, and nations. The winners of Coalition Advocating Human Security Fellowships for 2005 were:

• Heather D. Goldsworthy, for her project "Environmental Change and Forced Displacement in Bangladesh: Implications for Peace and Conflict"

   

• Daniel Wehrenfennig, for his project "Communication and Human Security: New Opportunities and Challenges in the Network Society"

To learn how you can become a supporter of our programs and fellowships, please contact us.

Center for Unconventional Security Affairs
University of California, Irvine
School of Social Ecology
Irvine, CA 92697-7075
Phone: (949) 824-8804
E-mail: cusa@uci.edu