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Title [Weekly Chosun] 2nd Sunhak Peace Prize Winners Dr. Gino Strada and Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, 8,000,000 Lives Saved and 3,000 Girls Awakened
Date 2017-01-14 Hit 8727
File 20161226150342_451.jpg [44kb]

[Weekly Chosun]

2nd Sunhak Peace Prize Winners Dr. Gino Strada and Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, 8,000,000 Lives Saved and 3,000 Girls Awakened



(Left) Dr. Gino Strada. (Right) Dr. Sakena Yacoobi


According to the “2015 Global Report (UNHCR Global Report 2015)” by the United National High Commission for Refugees, 34,000 people are becoming refugees on a daily basis, due to escalating conflict and persecution. The number of refugees registered in the UNHCR is 16,100,000 people; but if the displaced, as well as those that apply for protection, are included, the number of deported people would estimate instead to 65,300,000 people in the world. If a country were to be founded with just these people, it would become the 21st most populated nation in the world.


Refugees have been in anguish the world over for quite a long time now. The treatment of sick refugees and the education the children of refugees that have been displaced from their home is a crucial undertaking for the global community. There are two prominent figures here that have led the way toward guaranteeing medical service and education, two basic human rights, to refugees. They are Dr. Gino Strada (68), an Italian war surgeon that can be called the doctor and teacher of all refugees worldwide, and Dr. Sakena Yacoobi (66), an Afghan educator. These two were selected as the winners of the 2nd Sunhak Peace Prize by the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee (Committee Director Il-Shik Hong, Former Korea University President) on the 29th of November.


The Sunhak Peace Prize seeks to recognize and reward individuals or organizations that have contributed to the peace and welfare of future generations, and present one million dollars to the winners, making it the award with the highest monetary prize in the world. The winners are to visit Seoul to participate at the Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony that will take place on the 3rd of February, 2017.



Gino Strada, the Doctor of the World’s Refugees


“Stay strong and endure, my daughter. You will be able to return anew.” Two years after discovering that she had a cardiac disorder, an African girl mounts the operation table with the operation fees that were collected by donors. The doctor places the stethoscope in the girl’s ears after the operation has ended successfully. “Do you hear you heartbeat?” At the question by the silver-haired doctor, the girl answers with her bright smile.


This is one scene from the documentary “Open Heart” that deals with the medical relief activities of Dr. Gino Strada in 2013. “Open Heart” is known to have been nominated as a finalist in the documentary category for an Academy Award. Dr. Strada has been providing emergency medical relief to refugees, whose lives were in danger in the Middle East and Africa for 28 years, as a surgeon.


According to the Korean Committee of UNICEF, unlike in Luxembourg, where two out of 1,000 children die before the age of five, in Sierra Leone, Africa, 125 out of 1,000 children die before the age of five because of civil wars. In Sub-Sahara Africa, which shows the highest death rate of children under the age of five, 12 times more of children die before the age of five than in advanced countries.


Dr. Gina Strada has one strong belief. That is that “The right to be treated is the most basic and universal human right of humankind that cannot be handed over.” In 1994, he founded “Emergency,” an international emergency medical relief organization. In 2016, Emergency is currently operating over 60 medical facilities in 16 countries, and has saved over 8,000,000 people to this day.


He also has the led the way towards enhancement of the awareness of human rights. One example is when in 2008 he received a manifesto called “Human Rights Based on Medicine” that promises free medical welfare for the people from the governments of 12 African countries (Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda), which, at the time, had a low awareness towards public medical service. He established a world-class cardio surgery center in the South of Sudan, and is cultivating 11 centers that are responsible of specialized treatment. Recently, he is not only executing refugee relief activities that are being introduced into Europe, but also contributing to antiwar activities. Known by everybody as an excellent humanitarian, Dr. Gino Strada is also being mentioned as a nominee of the Nobel Peace Prize.



Women’s Education Activist Sakena Yacoobi


“The sight of potential blossoming is so amazing. I wish to be at their side with love, trust and honesty.”


Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is an educator who has thrived in the education of women, with the mantra, “Educating girls is educating future generations,” in the Islamic societies, where discrimination against women remains severe. In the Afghan refugee village that had been demolished by war, she presented “education” as the answer to resettlement.


Thanks to her middle class parents, Dr. Yacoobi was able to be educated from a young age. But from her streets in her country, she had to watch women and children go to the grave every day. She eventually decided to become a doctor for the women in Afghanistan. She managed to enter a medical college, but there were no dormitories for women in Afghanistan. In 1970, by the recommendation of her father, she went to study overseas in California, in the United States.


Returning to her hometown after finishing her academic studies, she established the “Afghan Institute of Learning” in 1995 for the more systematic education of refugees, and so far has provided education and vocational training to 13,000,000 refugees. She especially put her life on the line by operating approximately 80 secret schools under the auspices of the Taliban government, which strictly forbids the education of women and girls, educating 3,000 girls in the process. According to the Korean UNICEF Committee, out of the 59,000,000 children that couldn’t go to elementary school in 2013, 52%, or 32,000,000 of them were girls. In addition, out of the 115,000,000 people between the age of 15 and 24 years old that cannot read, 59% are women. One representative area of dearth in women’s education is Afghanistan.


The Sunhak Peace Prize Committee highly praised her achievements in improving the human rights and social positions of Islamic women. She is currently acting as a refugee crisis specialist in the U.N. and throughout the global community. Dr. Yacoobi has a history of being a nominee at the same time when Mohamed Elbaradai, an Egyptian that served as the Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, won the Nobel Peace Prize.


The Director of the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee, Il-Shik Hong, said, “After World War II, today we are facing the highest number of refugees, so we must deal with the refugee crisis as a very critical issue regarding the peace of this era, and solve this problem with heart-felt international solidarity, and cooperation by the recollection of our humane values that connect mankind,” and further revealed, “At this point where the global refugee crisis is becoming worse, the winners of the 2nd Sunhak Peace Prize are great individuals that have led the way in guaranteeing ‘medical service’ and ‘education’ as the most basic human rights, which are necessary in the reconstruction of the lives of the refugees.”.... [See the original story] 



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