Wai Wai Nu, a former political prisoner from the community of Rohingya in Myanmar, has dedicated her young life to working for human and women’s rights.
She will share her story at Eastern Kentucky University on Thursday, Sept. 17, when she brings “Reflections on Myanmar’s Political Crisis: Buddhist Nationalism and Ethnic Violence.” Her talk, presented by EKU’s Asian Studies Program, will begin at 5 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. It is free and open to the public.
After a seven-year imprisonment, in 2012 Nu formed the Women’s Peace Network, Arakan, as a platform to build peace and mutual understanding between Myanmar’s different ethnicities and to advocate for the rights of marginalized women in Arakan. Through the Network, she has campaigned in Myanmar and worldwide for women’s rights and an end to the persecution of the Rohingyan people.
Now 28, Nu has conducted training sessions on women’s empowerment, offered legal training seminars, and organized human rights and peace-building activities. She recently completed her law degree and founded Justice for Women, a network of female lawyers providing legal assistance for the women of Myanmar. She was awarded the N-Peace Award and was selected as one of the BBC’s “100 Top Women” in 2014.
In addition to the Asian Studies Program, sponsors of the event are the EKU Cultural Center, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Planning Committee, Intelligence Studies Program, University Diversity Office, and the UNICEF Club at Model Laboratory School.
For more information, contact Dr. Minh Nguyen, director of EKU's Asian Studies Program, at minh.nguyen@eku.edu.
For more information about EKU’s Asian Studies Program, visit asianstudies.eku.edu.