Nadia Ghulam wins the 39th Memorial for Peace Josep and Liesel Vidal

For seventeen years now, Nadia Ghulam has been living and working for peace in Catalonia after having to flee her country of origin, Afghanistan. The fruits of their tireless work have been recognized, this year, by the 39th Memorial for Peace Josep and Liesel Vidal, a distinction awarded by the Reading Center of the municipality of Reus from Catalonia and the Josep Vidal i Llecha Association, two committed institutions with peace and human rights. The award ceremony will take place on October 6 at the Reus Reading Center at 7:00 p.m.

Martí Olivella, member of the board of the Associació Josep Vidal i Llecha de Catalunya, sets out the key points for which the award has been granted to the activist: "Apart from taking into account his work and career, we valued very positively the fact that Nadia, in such a short time, has learned to read and write in Catalan and that, in addition, she has already published several books and stories explaining her experience in our language."

Olivella also highlights the fact that distinctions such as the Memorial help to strengthen each other: "They make us break the suspicions of who is the migrant, the foreigner, the refugee or the native and favors us to work on common issues, such as the construction of the peace and the end of wars".

A distinction that will favor the work for peace in Afghanistan

The award, which contains a financial endowment of 8,000 euros, will go entirely to the Ponts Per la Pau Association, a non-profit organization that Nadia Ghulam herself created in 2006 and which she also chairs. Currently, the association helps 450 people in Afghanistan, especially women.

Despite the oppression of the current Taliban regime, the activist, writer and social educator in Fundesplai assures that they are trying to provide a small light of hope and support: "They are the real protagonists, the people for the which we work for peace every day. The prize is for all of them. We want to contribute from the association in their education and personal development."

As for Afghanistan's current situation, the latest Global Peace Index, published in 2022, placed it in last place in the ranking of countries according to their level of peace. However, the report also stated that the number of fatalities resulting from the conflict had dropped considerably and that the trend was apparently towards an improvement in living conditions.

However, Nadia Ghulam assures that, today, working for peace remains more necessary than ever: "The great powers are encouraging a lot of violence and the distribution of weapons. As human beings, I believe that we have to look for other ways of dialogue and channeling them through peace. Getting this message to young people is also important. I continue to affirm that education is the seed of peace."