Egyptian women’s rights lawyer Azza Soliman honored by committee of Allard Prize for International Integrity

The committee of the Allard Prize for International Integrity has honored Egyptian women’s rights lawyer and co-founder of the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), Azza Soliman, for her “life dedicated to fighting corruption and injustice faced by Egyptian women in both the private sphere and the judicial system.”

Soliman’s honoring came as she placed among three finalists for the prize who were selected following a comprehensive review of 244 nominations received from 70 countries.

As a co-founder and current trustee of CEWLA, Soliman has operated numerous campaigns to to raise awareness of women’s issues in Egypt and to promote gender equality through legislative reform over the past 25 years.

At a ceremony held on September 28 at the University of British Columbia, Khadija Ismayilova, an Azerbaijani anti-corruption investigative journalist, was announced the CAD $100,000 Allard Prize winner for 2017.

The two other finalists, Soliman of Egypt and an organization known as the “Car Wash Task Force” (Força Tarefa da Lava Jato), a Brazilian anti-corruption prosecutors’ group, were granted CAD $10,000 awards in their efforts in “fighting corruption and protecting human rights.”

The annual award, which is administered by the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, is decided by a committee composed of representatives of both the Allard School of Law and from the private sector.

ahramonline