"Nadia Murad represents the national unity of the Iraqi people," the president of Diyala University said at the opening ceremony of a new hall named after her.
The ceremony was held on Monday, May 12, 2025 at the Medical College of Diyala University, which was dedicated to the opening of the hall named Nadia Murad. The ceremony was attended by a representative of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
"The hall is named after the activist and all the sacrifices she has made, the torture, physical and mental damage, and violence she has faced, in addition to her significant efforts in the field of human rights and women's defense," he DDED.
Nadia Murad, 32, was born in 1993 in the village of Kojo in the district OF Sinjar (Shingal, home for the non-Muslim Ezidi (Yazidi) community in Nineveh province. She was elected as a UN goodwill ambassador in 2016 and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 2018.
On August 3, 2014, Daesh (IS) attacked Shingal on August 15, carried out a “massacre” in the village of Kocho, an atrocity the U.N. said amounted to genocide.
Even the majority of the mass graves at the hands of IS are for Kocho civilians. This prompted Nadia Murad to take the initiative to build a new village to preserve the legacy of the IS attack in Kocho.
Thousands of Ezidi women, girls and kids were enslaved and taken as sex slaves. The Kurdistan Regional Government KRG office for rescue of abducted Ezidis says 6,417 Ezidis were enslaved by IS when it took over Shingal in 2014 and 2,700 of them are missing up today.
Dr. Haider al-Saadi, head of the standing committee for awareness at Diyala University, said at the opening ceremony that the opening of the hall represents a humane and patriotic gesture by Diyala University and its administration to honor Nadia Murad.
"This is a tribute to the bravery and resilience of this heroic Iraqi woman and the high human values she represents in the field of human rights and in the fight against all forms of injustice and oppression," he said.
Nadia Murad was named one of the world's 100 most inspiring women last year because she was described as a leading advocate for survivors of sexual violence.
"Nadia is a survivor of the genocide of the Yazidis in Iraq, committed in 2014 by the group calling itself the Islamic State (ISIS) ... Nadia was captured by ISIL fighters and forced into slavery, facing sexual assault, pain, and torture."
Nadia’s Initiative NI is an international NGO dedicated to rebuilding communities in crisis and advocating globally for survivors of sexual violence. Its current work is focused on the sustainable redevelopment of the Yazidi homeland in Sinjar, Iraq.
Nadia’s Initiative works with the local community and a variety of implementing partners on the ground in Sinjar to design and support projects that promote the restoration of education, healthcare, livelihoods, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), culture, and women’s empowerment in the region.
Ezidis are an ethno-religious community of about 550,000 people, mostly residing in Shingal, in northern Iraqi province of Nineveh. IS reportedly used the women and girls as sex slaves. Tens of thousands of Ezidis are still living in Internally Displaced Person IDP camps in Iraqi northern province of Duhok.
Amid the atrocious attacks of IS, 1,293 Ezidis were killed, 68 shrines were destroyed and over 80 mass graves have been discovered.
