Jalila  Haider, a human rights activist from Balochistan province of Pakistan, will receive the Inter­national Women of Courage award from US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday. 

The US State Depart­ment’s spokesperson’s office identified Haider as “the Iron Lady of Balochistan,” who founded “We the Humans – Pakistan”, a non-profit organisation to lift local communities by strengthening opportunities for vulnerable women and children, Dawn reported.

She specializes in defending women’s rights and provides free counselling and legal services to poverty-affected women. The first female attorney of her Hazara community, Haider led a peaceful hunger strike to recognise the right to life for the Hazaras following a series of targeted attacks. She has taken up the cause of many other vulnerable communities.

As Balochistan’s President of the Women Democratic Front and Balochistan’s branch of the Aurat (Woman’s) March, “she fought against violence against women in public spaces, at work, and at home,” said her brief introduction released by the State Department.

Besides the Jalila Haider, an Afghan woman Zarifa Ghafari, who became the mayor of Maidan Shar in the conservative Wardak province at the age of 26, will also receive the award. When she showed up to start work, a male mob appeared, and she was forced to flee. Despite facing death threats, Ghafari returned, defying her conservative critics and their narrative that a woman is unfit to lead.