Heroes for a Better World

Irene Khan
(1956-)

7th Secretary-General of Amnesty International
2006 Sydney Peace Prize Winner

birthdate: December 24
birthplace:
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Irene Zubaida Khan is the 7th Secretary General of Amnesty International, one of the world's leading human rights organizations. She is the first woman, the first Muslim and the first Asian to head the organization. Irene Khan grew up while East Bengal was fighting for its independence from Pakistan. She witnessed many human rights abuses during the struggle, which helped shape her worldview. She left her country as a teen and studied abroad in Ireland and England and then got her law degree in the US at Harvard Law School, specializing in international law and human rights. In 1977, before graduating, she started the international development and relief organization, Concern Universal. In 1980 she began working at the United Nations and spent 20 years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), working at headquarters and in the field to promote the protection of refugees. She was appointed as UNHCR Chief of the Mission in India in 1995 and led the UNHCR team in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia during the Kosovo crisis in 1999.

In 2001, Irene Khan was chosen to head Amnesty International. She has been a dynamic leader there, instituting many reforms in the global organization. During her first year, for example, she launched a global program against violence towards women, and she has broadened Amnesty International's focus beyond torture and unfair trials and detention to also include issues such as discrimination, hunger, illiteracy and corporate accountability. Irene Khan has received many awards and honors for her dedication to human rights - she was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship and received the Pilkington "Woman of the Year" Award in 2002. In 2006, she was honored with the Sydney Peace Prize.


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