Hiljmnijeta Apuk

Hiljmnijeta Apuk (born 1956) is a Kosovar campaigner for the rights of people of short stature. In 2013, she was a recipient of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.

Biography

Hiljmnijeta Apuk was born in 1956 in the city of Mitrovica, Kosovo, in what was then Yugoslavia. Her family is Bosniak.[1][2] Apuk was born with disproportionately low growth.[1] Her parents were supportive of her efforts to gain independence, for example through helping to adapt her car so she would be able to reach the pedals, and she obtained a driver's license at age 18. This opened the door for her to pursue education, and she went on to study economics and law.[3]

Apuk has been an activist for the rights of people with disabilities, particularly those with muscular dystrophy and dwarfism, since the 1980s.[4][5] She is the founding director of the non-governmental organization Little People of Kosovo.[4][5][6] The organization was founded after the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, inspired by the U.S. organization Little People of America.[3]

Through the organization and other volunteer work, she fights for employment opportunities for people with disabilities.[4][5] She is also active in campaigning for women and girls with disabilities, who face an intersection of discrimination.[3]

Apuk served as a member of the United Nations General Assembly's ad hoc committee on drafting the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[1][5] She is also an artist, whose work aims to center what she calls the "authentic culture" of people with disabilities[4][7]

In 2013, she received the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for her activist work.[1][4]

References
  1. Loxha, Amra Zejneli (2013-12-14). "Priznanje UN uklesalo Kosovo među svetske borce za ljudska prava". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  2. "Droits de l'homme : 4 activistes majeurs dont on parle peu". Toneo First (in French). 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  3. "Gender equality reduces poverty". Source. November 2015. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  4. "Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai among winners of 2013 UN human rights prize". UN News. 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  5. "Winners of the United Nations Human Rights Prize for 2013 announced". OHCR. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  6. "Apuk: Položaj osoba sa invaliditetom je loš u svim oblastima života". KIM radio (in Bosnian). 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  7. Rethinking disability: world perspectives in culture and society. Patrick Devlieger (Second ed.). Antwerp. 2016. ISBN 978-90-441-3417-9. OCLC 952790140.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
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