Nadia Murad Basee Taha is a 23-year-old Yazidi woman whose life forever changed on the harrowing night of August 3, 2014. ISIS fighters came to her village in northern Iraq, where she was taken from her home, only to be kidnapped, sold, and raped.
At an induction ceremony in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized Nadiaâ??s courage to give a voice to the voiceless.
NADIA MURAD BASEE TAHA
ISIS survivor, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador
'I stand with you today to represent those who are gone from us. We cannot bring them back. With them in mind always weâ??ll fight on, we have to continue fighting.'
On the Occasion of the International Day of Peace, Nadia was named the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. Under this title, she will focus on advocacy initiatives and raise global awareness to the millions of victims of trafficking.
NADIA MURAD BASEE TAHA
ISIS survivor, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador
'As you have heard the night of August 3, 2014, everything changed. Daesh (ISIS) came to kidnap, to murder, to rape. This was genocide. It is that simple in a matter of days if not hours, thousands of Yazidis were killed and thousands of women and children were taken just because they were Yazidis. I was taken to Mosul with others, I was used in the way they wanted to use me, I was not alone, and perhaps I was the lucky one. As time passed I found a way to escape whereas thousands of others could not. They are still captive.'
Nadia is a survivor that is now telling her story to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, her experiences are not unfamiliar to thousands of other Yazidis that continue to be killed because of their non-Islamic leanings.
AMAL CLOONEY
Human Rights Lawyer
'I am ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations that States are failing to prevent or even punish genocide because they find that their own interests get in the way. I am ashamed as a lawyer that there is not justice being done and merely a complaint being made about it. I am ashamed as a woman that girls like Nadia can have their bodies sold and used as battlefields. I am ashamed as a human being that we ignore their cries for help.'
In 2014, over 5,200 Yazidis were abducted and at least 3,400 are still in ISIS captivity. Most of the captives are women.
