About the Speaker
Vian
Dakhil
Yazidi member of Iraqi Parliament
Vian Dakhil is a Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament and is one of two Yazidis currently serving in Parliament. She is known for speaking out against the Yazidi genocide carried out by ISIS and for advocating for humanitarian assistance on their behalf. Dakhil has made significant efforts to address the rape, forced marriage, and violence that Yazidi women and girls have endured. In 2014, Dakhil was injured during a helicopter crash while she was leading a mission to help stranded Yazidis in the Sinjar mountains. While Dakhil believes that it is important to get support from the Iraqi government to aid the Yazidis, she also campaigns for foreign governments to help kidnapped Yazidis and seeks to improve the living conditions of Yazidis living in refugee camps. Dakhil was awarded the Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2014 for her courage in representing the Yazidi community and her continued activism against ISIS, despite the threats she has received from the terrorist group. In 2016, Dakhil was awarded the Geneva Summit Prize for Human Rights.