Sharifah Shakirah – Women and Refugee Rights Coordinator
Sharifah Shakirah was born in Buthidaung Township in Arakan state, Myanmar. When she was six years old, she fled the country to Malaysia along with her family to reunite with her father who had earlier fled the country to escape from persecutions by the Burmese regime.
Sharifah Shakirah is the founder and director of Rohingya Women Development Network (RWDN), one of the first Rohingya women-led organizations as well as first refugee women-led organizations in Malaysia.
RWDN was founded in 2016 to empower Rohingya women, reduce gender inequality and build women’s leadership in the Rohingya community. Currently, RWDN has been working on providing —
1) Language and Communication Skills,
2) Soft-skill trainings,
3) Trainings and leadership,
4) Rohingya Women’s Theatre Group and
5) Self-defense classes to the Rohingya refugee women in Malaysia.
Sharifah Shakirah was nominated by the US Embassy in Malaysia for the US State Department’s 2019 International Women of Courage Award.
Giving Rohingya Women a Voice
http://www.unhcr.org/en-my/news/stories/2018/10/5bd029274/giving-rohingya-women-voice.html
No Rohingya woman should be left behind
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/384417
One Rohingya’s struggle to empower women in Malaysia
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/rohingya-struggle-empower-women-malaysia-171129205523653.html
While Preserving their History and Culture (NOW THIS Twitter: @NowThis)
https://www.facebook.com/rwdn2017/videos/1740828832891464/
Rohingya-Run Group Helps Rohingya Women in Malaysia
https://youtu.be/-bKvgBNJguI