Friend Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge Receives Honorary Doctorate
As part of the Winter Graduations 2024, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has been awarded Doctor of the University
In recognition of being an internationally renowned campaigner and her outstanding contribution to positive peace and social justice.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge is a highly respected political figure, with a distinguished history of campaigning for human rights.
She was one of the few women at the negotiations for South Africa’s transition from apartheid as part of CODESA (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa). She served for fifteen years as a Member of the South African parliament, during which time she was elected Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Deputy Minister of Defense and as Deputy Minister of Health, during which time she challenged the denial of the HIV and AIDS crisis.
Nozizwe is also a Quaker from southern Africa Yearly Meeting and most recently served as the Director of the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva. She now works in partnership with the BlackQuaker Project on addressing the exponential impact of slavery, colonisation, economic exploitation and racism through retrospective justice.
Nozizwe has helped establish the African Women’s Peace Table, a partnership forum for integrating women’s perspectives on issues of peace and security in Africa. She is also the founder and Executive Director of ‘Embrace Dignity’, a non-profit women’s human rights organization campaigning for legal reform to abolish the exploitative system of prostitution.
She is a recipient of the Tanenbaum Peacemakers Award, the Lifetime's Remarkable Women campaign award, which honors extraordinary women who inspire and empower others to make a difference in their communities and the world.
from Dr. Harold D. Weaver Jr., BlackQuaker Project (12/5/2024)