Global Citizenship for Human Rights - Human Rights Heroes

  MUHAMMAD YUNUS (b. 1940) Economist and Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus has become internationally renowned for his revolutionary system of micro-credit (small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans) that has helped millions to escape poverty. Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves. Born in the seaport city of Chittagong, Bangladesh, Yunus’ life is motivated by his vision of a world without poverty. Professor Yunus studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, then received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt in 1969 and the following year became an assistant professor of econ...

  NANCY HERZ (b. 1996) Nancy Herz is a human rights activist, columnist, public speaker and co-author of the book, “Shameless,” which was published in Norway in October 2017.   In 2016, Herz published the article “We are the shameless Arab women and our time starts now.” Together with other Norwegian activists, Nancy started the #Shameless movement - which aims to tackle negative social control and the consequences of growing up in a shame-honor culture.   She advocates for freedom hopes to inspire other girls and women to free themselves from constrictive gender roles set for them.   The principles of anti-racism and feminism are at the core of all her work and she believes that young people must claim their rights and work together for the world they want to live in.   Nancy was personally affected by negative social control and a shame-honor culture growing up which made her struggle with her identity and she experienced guilt and shame and never feel...

  MILAN ANTONIJEVIC Milan Antonijević is one of the prominent fighters for human rights in the last two decades in Serbia. Antonijević was born on 24 September 1975 in Belgrade (Republic of Serbia) . He graduated from the Third Belgrade Gymnasium and the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. Studies began in 1994, at the time of the most severe crisis in the disintegration of the Yugoslavia. The whirlwind of war i Bosnia and Hercegovina and Croatia, severe civilian suffering and the authoritarian regime of Slobodan Milosević motivate him to focus his professional career on the protection of human rights. On third year of study, Milan opts for specializationon in the Department of International Law. Parallel with studies, 1999 he graduated from the Human Rights School of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, where as of 2019 he works as a lecturer. Since 2001, Antonijević has worked as an associate on The Lawyers ’ Committee For Human Rights (YUCOM). He graduated at Fac...

  DESMOND TUTU (b. 1931) Desmond Tutu is one of South Africa’s most well-known human rights activists, winning the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving and ending apartheid in South Africa. Known as the voice of the voiceless Black South Africans he was an outspoken critic of apartheid. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on October 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, South Africa. His father was an elementary school principal and his mother worked cooking and cleaning at a school for the blind. The South Africa of Tutu's youth was rigidly segregated, with Black Africans denied the right to vote and forced to live in specific areas. Tutu's rise to international prominence began when he became the first Black person to be appointed the Anglican dean of Johannesburg in 1975. It was in this position that he emerged as one of the most prominent and eloquent voices in the South African anti-apartheid movement, especially important considering that many of the movement's promi...