US Embassy Ghana Awards 6th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Award To Afi Azaratu Yakubu

U.S. Embassy Ghana congratulates Ms. Afi Azaratu Yakubu for winning the 2013 Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Peace and Social Justice in recognition of her unwavering commitment to promoting peace and security in the Northern Region.

Since 2008, the U.S. Embassy has presented the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Peace and Social Justice to a Ghanaian citizen who personifies the philosophy and actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The award honors activists who promote social justice, stability, human rights and peace through nonviolent methods.

Since 1994, Ms. Yakubu has worked as a researcher, conflict prevention campaigner, women's equality advocate and citizen empowerment organizer. She has been an instrumental partner in a number of organizations striving to raise awareness on issues that affect women, youth and marginalized groups.

Ms. Yakubu helped found Women United Against Conflict and the Savannah Women Development Foundation to bring together women from all ethnic groups in northern Ghana to mobilize resources to support victims of conflict, natural disasters and human trafficking.

In addition, she founded and currently heads the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), a non-governmental organization that has implemented a variety of projects focused on reducing threats to human safety and security in Ghana and across the West African sub-region.

Ms. Yakubu was born in the Northern Region of Ghana, which has one of the highest levels of illiteracy and poverty in the country. According to Ms. Yakubu, her parents understood the value of education at a time when most children, especially girls, were not sent to school.

Her parents' investment has yielded a tireless and successful campaigner for peace, arms control, cultural tolerance and social justice for women, youth and marginalized groups.

According to Ms. Yakubu, “it is everybody's business to seek peace – you cannot have peace if your neighbour's house is on fire.”

The Embassy is proud to honor Ms. Afi Yakubu, and recognizes previous award recipients Bishop Vincent Boi- Nai and Alhaji Al-Hussein Zakaria for their efforts to promote peace and social justice (2008), Angela Dwamena-Aboagye for assisting abused women and children (2009), Janet Adama Mohammad for her work in peacebuilding to address local and regional conflicts (2010), George Achibra for rescuing trafficked children working in the fishing industry in Lake Volta (2011) and Dr. Abdulai for his commitment to the poorest and most vulnerable citizens of Tamale (2012).

We remember Dr. King's call to service in this annual celebration of heroic Ghanaian efforts. As set forth in this year's Presidential Proclamationlet us recall King's teaching that "we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."