Hibaaq Osman accepts AIWFF award on behalf of Karama
Hibaaq Osman (second from left) receives the Grand Achievement award from Mervat Tallawy. Photo: AIWFF
Karama founder and CEO Hibaaq Osman have been honored at the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival.
Hibaaq Osman accepted the Nut Grand Award for Achievement at the festival on Wednesday.
In her address to the festival, Hibaaq paid tribute to the award’s previous honorees, including former UN Under-Secretary-General Mervat Tallawy, Algerian revolutionary icon Djamila Bouhired, President of Egypt’s National Council for Women, Maya Morsy, and actor Mohsena Tawfik.
Hibaaq accepted the award on behalf of the “women of the Karama movement”, starting that despite the threats facing women in Africa and the Arab region, they are more than equal to the challenge.
Read her remarks here:
It is a great honor indeed to be recognized by such an incredibly distinguished committee.
I am so thrilled to join the incredible women and incredible Africans who have been honoured before me - Maya Morsy, Mervat Tallawy, Djamila Bouhired, Mohsena Tawfik.
These are true icons, and I feel humble to have my name join theirs.
It is especially meaningful to receive this award in Egypt.
Egypt holds a special place in my heart, a country that spans and unites Africa and the Arab world, a country of the most extraordinary history, that played such a vital role in the post-colonial era and was so important for the liberation movements across Africa.
It feels too particularly special to be recognized here at a festival celebrating film when Egypt has been so vital to the cultural life of Africa and the Arab world. The music, the movies, the books of Egypt have always been the artistic lifeblood of the Arabic-speaking world.
Reflecting on the this honor, I might feel overwhelmed were it not for the fact that I can only accept it on behalf of the women of the Karama movement.
Karama is the journey and it is the destination of our movement. A network that encompasses the work of activists and civil society organizations in 13 countries in Africa and the Arab region.
It is my privilege to accept this award on behalf of the women of Karama, as it is my privilege to support and serve the network.
The women of Karama are united in our determination for our societies to live with dignity.
In our lives, there are so many affronts and challenges to our dignity. Laws that discriminate against us. Violence that goes unchallenged and unpunished. Economic exclusion and hardship. Wars, conflict and occupation. Decisions about our lives that are made without us. And the great global challenges that threaten our lives and our livelihoods - famine, climate change, pandemics.
It is my privilege at Karama to work with women who stand up to these challenges, those who recognize that they can make a difference for their families, their communities, their countries.
I pay tribute to the mothers, daughters, sisters across Africa and the Arab region.
I recognize the Syrian women freezing in refugee camps far from their homes. The Somalis facing yet another drought. The children of Yemen who have seen their schools bombed, or turned into detetion centers for prisoners of war. The Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah who have brought the world’s attention to the injustice they face.
To those fleeing war and economic collapse, who find themselves in boats desperate for the opportunity to live with dignity.
It is the mission and the passion of Karama women that seek to overcome the barriers to equality, peace, and justice. Their creativity and intelligence is boundless, their successes too numerous to count.
The women of Africa and the Arab region are more than equal to the challenges they face. Though wars and hardships have interrupted their lives, they have stood up to the test; they have disrupted war, disrupted a status quo that did not value them, presented a way forward and progress for the whole of society.
These are the women who are recognized and celebrated by this award today.
There are friends that I see here today that have brought me to this stage, they are the ones truly deserving of praise and celebration.
There are women who have been taken from us who have brought me here today. Women who have taught me the priceless nature of leadership and vision. Through their journeys, they showed me that a leader is nothing without their community, that speaking is nothing without listening.
I receive this award with gratitude and reverence for those who have recognized me and those who have gone before me. They are inspirations.
I accept the award on behalf of all the women of Karama. Let us all achieve our dignity.