Nobel Peace laureate Tawakkol Karman will join the Sixth Commencement Ceremony of Asian University for Women to be held on May 12.
The Yemeni journalist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize will give the keynote address in the ceremony, the AUW made the announcement on Monday through a statement.
"AUW is deeply honoured that Nobel Peace Prize Laurate Tawakkol Karman will share her insights and outstanding efforts toward advancing human rights in Yemen at the Sixth Commencement Ceremony," said Vice Chancellor Professor Nirmala Rao.
"I am confident that the exceptional young women graduating on that day will be emboldened by such a courageous role model," Professor Nirmala Rao said.
Mentioning the importance of education and other qualifications for women to overcome the policies that marginalise and weaken them, Tawakkol Karman appreciated the significant contribution of AUW in this context.
"I have always believed that education is the foundation for both development and peace. Thus, what Asian University for Women does is a significant contribution in this context," said Tawakkol Karman.
The statement said, two hundred women are expected to graduate from AUW through the ceremony.
AUW will also honour Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt with a Doctorate of Arts.
A symposium, "From Survival to Sustainable Development: Addressing Urgent Issues for a Just World" will precede the Commencement Ceremony on May 11.
The Asian University for Women was founded in 2008 and located in Chattogram of Bangladesh.
The AUW is the first of its kind: a regional institution dedicated to women's education and leadership development.
The university has international outlook, but rooted in the contexts and aspirations of the people of Asia.
Students from 15 countries attend AUW. This University exists to support a rising network of women leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers from across the region.
A majority of AUW's students are first in their family to enter university; 98 per cent of AUW's students are on full or near-full scholarship funded by private donors from around the world.
A majority of AUW graduates find employment in the private sector in their home countries while about 25 per cent go on to pursue graduate studies.
AUW graduates or former students have been admitted to Stanford, Oxford, Columbia, Brandeis, Surrey and a host of other leading universities in the world.
The AUW statement said, Karman was born and raised in Yemen. She earned her undergraduate degree in Commerce from the University of Science and Technology and her graduate degree in Political Science from the University of Sana'a.
While working as a journalist, Karman reported on the political instability and human rights abuses taking place in Yemen.
In 2005, she founded Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) to train, protect, and advocate for female journalists.
In 2007, Karman began organising weekly protests and sit-ins to oppose corruption and systemic government repression of citizens.
In 2011, Karman redirected these protests in support of the Arab Spring and she became a bold and prominent force in the UN, where she gave speeches, met with the UN Secretary General, and organised pro-democracy and pre-peace rallies at the UN headquarters.
Among Yemen's opposition movement, she is known as the "iron woman" and "mother of the revolution" for her leadership and fight for human rights.
Since receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, Karman has continued to support and organise women journalists and others who strive to resist corruption and injustice and establish peace and democracy in conflict-afflicted countries.
