Summia Tora is an Afghan campaigner for women's and refugee rights, and social entrepreneur. In November 2023, she was included to the BBC's 100 Women list.

Summia Tora
Born
Kabul, Afghanistan
NationalityAfghan
Education

Early life and education

Tora's family is of Uzbek descent.[1]

Tora's family fled Afghanistan in the late 1990s due to the rise of the Taliban.[2][3] They resettled in Peshwar, Pakistan, where Tora attended school.[1][3] Tora left Peshawar in 2014, to attend high school in New Mexico in the United States through United World Colleges.[3] She took the school's entrance exam in March 2014 at the Serena Hotel in Kabul; the following day, it was attacked by Taliban militants.[3] She graduated from high school in 2016[4] and went on to attend Earlham College, where she earned a BA degree with double majors in Economics and Peace and Global Studies in 2020.[5]

Tora became the first Afghan Rhodes Scholar in 2020.[2][3] She earned a Masters in Public Policy from then University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government, a Masters in international human rights law from the University of Oxford.[5][6]

Activism and Entrepenuership

Tora has worked with refugees and asylum seekers globally since a young age. She has advocated for Afghan refugee's rights in Pakistan, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States.[1]

In 2019, Tora built the Dosti Initiative to educate girls about menstrual health and hygiene in Afghanistan.[1][6]

In 2021, Tora founded the Dosti Network to provide humanitarian aid to Afghans under Taliban rule and to help them relocate outside the country if they wished. Dosti has offered educational scholarships and support to empower young Afghans to access education during the Taliban's ban on girls and women's education. [1][5][6]

In September 2021, Tora wrote a piece for The Economist about the evacuation from Afghanistan.[7]

Recognition

In 2022, Tora was one of 18 recipients of the Echoing Green Fellowship[5] She is the first Afghan to receive the Echoing Green fellowship.[5]

In May 2023, Tora was named as one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia for Social Impact.[6]

In June 2023, Tora received the CEU Open Society Prize, as one of six representatives of Afghan women's struggle for the protection of women's and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. [8]

In November 2023, Tora was named to the BBC's 100 Women list.[9]

Personal life

Tora's family was in Afghanistan in 2021 and was stuck in the country after the Fall of Kabul.[1] Tora's family fled Afghanistan due to fear of persecution. Fortunately, they were able to resettle in the United States.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Landler, Mark (2021-09-05). "The First Afghan Rhodes Scholar Saved Her Father, and Wants to Do More". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  2. ^ a b "Earlham College Graduate Becomes 1st Afghan To Receive Rhodes Scholarship". NPR. May 11, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Deng, Boer (2020-02-10). "Remarkable journey from refugee to Rhodes scholar". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  4. ^ "Summia Tora '16 named Rhodes Scholar". UWC-USA. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  5. ^ a b c d e Zimmerman, Brian (2022-10-13). "Earlham grad selected for global fellowship to support Afghan relief network". Earlham College. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  6. ^ a b c d Watson, Rana Wehbe. "30 Under 30 Asia 2023: Meet The Social Entrepreneurs Working Towards A More Inclusive Future". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  7. ^ Tora, Summia (September 2, 2021). "Summia Tora on evacuating her father—and others—from Kabul". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  8. ^ "CEU Names Afghan Women and Girls Winners of CEU Open Society Prize | Central European University". www.ceu.edu.
  9. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. November 21, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
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