Yemen’s Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist Tawakkol Karman was granted today the 2016 Freedom Award by the US National Civil Rights Museum. 

Having received the prize, Tawakkol Karman became the first Yemeni woman to win the Freedom Award granted to outstanding individuals who have contributed gratefully to civil and human rights and laid the groundwork for present and future leaders in the battle for human rights.  

She dedicated the award to the Yemeni youth who “had a dream for which they sparked the greatest peaceful revolution in the region, and are yet struggling for it."

In her speech during the award ceremony held at the headquarters of the museum and attended by a large gathering of lawyers, politicians, academics and students, Karman said, "the great Yemeni people are actually the one who have been honored with the Freedom Award for their great and ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity. As their representative, I received it today.” 

Karman said she is very proud of being honored with the Freedom Award, calling on the world’s people to unite against tyranny, injustice and human rights violations and work wholeheartedly for human values. 

The museum, whose exhibits trace the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present, is located around the former Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. 

The National Civil Rights Museum has honored many prominent figures around the world, including former South African President Nelson Mandela, former President Carter, former President Bill Clinton, former Soviet statesman Gorbachev, founder of Doctors Without Borders Kouchner, the spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet Dalai Lama and the founder of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus.