30 Facts About Nadia Murad

Nadia Murad Basee Taha is an Iraqi-born Yazidi human rights activist based in Germany.

In 2016, Nadia Murad was appointed as the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Nadia Murad was born in the village of Kocho in the Sinjar District, Iraq, populated mostly by Yazidi people.

Nadia Murad is the youngest of 11 children, not including her four older half siblings.

Nadia Murad's father married her mother after the death of his first wife, with whom he had four children.

Nadia Murad was attached to her home and never imagined leaving Kocho to live elsewhere.

On 19 August 2018, Nadia Murad married fellow Yazidi human rights activist Abid Shamdeen in Germany.

At the age of 19, Nadia Murad was a student living in the village of Kocho in Sinjar, northern Iraq.

That year, Nadia Murad was one of more than 6,700 Yazidi women and girls taken prisoner by Islamic State in Iraq.

Nadia Murad successfully escaped after her captor left the house unlocked.

Nadia Murad was taken in by a neighboring family, who were able to smuggle her out of the Islamic State controlled area, allowing her to make her way to a refugee camp in Duhok, Kurdistan Region.

Nadia Murad was out of ISIS territory in early September or in November 2014.

On 16 December 2015, Nadia Murad spoke to the United Nations Security Council about human trafficking and conflict.

In 2016, Nadia Murad was named the first UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

Nadia Murad has reached out to refugee and survivor communities, listening to testimonies of victims of trafficking and genocide.

Nadia Murad has received serious threats to her safety as a result of her work.

In September 2016, Murad announced Nadia's Initiative at an event hosted by Tina Brown in New York City.

On 3 May 2017, Nadia Murad met Pope Francis and Archbishop Paul Gallagher in Vatican City.

Along Nadia's Initiative, Murad worked with the Mine's Advisory Group to demine more than 2.6 million square meters of land in Sinjar, Iraq.

Nadia Murad was instrumental in drafting and passing UN Security Council Resolution 2379.

Nadia Murad's activism focused on accountability and gender equality in 2019, as she aided in the prosecution of an ISIL militant's wife in Germany and the collection of evidence of ISIL crimes.

Nadia Murad worked with the German Mission to the UN to help draft and pass UN Security Council Resolution 2467 in April 2019.

Nadia Murad took part in advocating for G7 member states to adopt legislation that protects and promotes women's rights as a member of France's Gender Advisory Council.

Nadia Murad urged the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan region to play its role in rebuilding Yazidi areas in Sinjar District and returning the refugees back home.

In 2019, Nadia Murad addressed the second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom where she spoke about her story and the ongoing challenges faced by Yazidis nearly five years after the 3 August 2014 attacks.

Nadia Murad laid out a "five-point plan of action" to address the challenges Yazidis face in Iraq.

Nadia Murad was included among a delegation of survivors of religious persecution from around the world whose stories were highlighted at the summit.

Nadia Murad worked with Iraqi authorities and the Coalition for Just Reparations to draft and advocate for the law, as well as its ongoing implementation.

Nadia Murad's memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, was published by Crown Publishing Group on 7 November 2017, which is an autobiographical in which she describes being captured and enslaved by the Islamic State.

In December 2024, Nadia Murad was included on the BBC's 100 Women list.