{{Short description|Ethiopian judge, women's rights activist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Maria Munir Yusuf | image = | education = Unity University (LLB) | occupation = Activist | known_for = | website = | birth_date = | birth_place = Addis Ababa, Ethiopia }} '''Maria Munir Yusuf''' is founder and director of the Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development in Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ethiopia Study Tour: Family Planning, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and International Development |publisher=UK all party parliamentary group on population, development and reproductive health |pages=35–36 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dc18cebdf3c7b576d0caacf/t/5ddbea63ee3ebb607a002577/1574693485996/Ethiopia+study+tour+report.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Enkuberhan |first1=Ruth |title=An assessment of Integrated services from the Present and Past Shelter Users' Perspectives: the case of Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development (AWSAD) Shelter |date=January 2018 |publisher=Addis Ababa University |page=21 |url=https://www.academia.edu/66183025}}</ref> She also co-founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cochrane |first1=Logan |title=Pathways of Legal Advocacy for Change: Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association |publisher=Routledge |page=2 |url=https://logancochrane.com/images/pdf/EWLA-Final.pdf}}</ref>
== Early life == Maria was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Harari parents. She became involved in charitable work while still in high school, and was able to raise relief funds for the Wollo famine in collaboration with the YWCA.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wagle |first1=Mary-Jane |title=Temsalet: Phenomenal Ethiopian Women |date=2014 |publisher=Tsehai Publishers |page=99 |isbn=978-1-59907-117-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qprqswEACAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Meet Maria Munir |date=12 October 2021 |publisher=Ethiopiaid |url=https://ethiopiaid.org.uk/2021/10/meet-maria-munir/}}</ref>
== Career == Maria began her career as a judge at the High Court of Ethiopia and following becoming a lawyer co-founded Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) in 1995 serving as board member with other Ethiopian women including Meaza Ashenafi and Atsedeweine Tekle.<ref>{{cite book |title=Presentation by the Ethiopia Network of Women Shelters |date=21 August 2019 |publisher=World Shelter Conference |url=https://fourth.worldshelterconference.org/en/sessions/610|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201201720/https://fourth.worldshelterconference.org/en/sessions/610 |archive-date=1 December 2022 }}</ref>
In 2003 Maria founded the ''"Organization against Gender Based Violence"'' in Ethiopia which would later be renamed the Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development (AWSAD) in 2009, the organization was the first to provide shelter exclusively for vulnerable women in the country.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mengistu |first1=Lemma |title=Experiences of Women Survivors of Gender-Based Violence with Surivor-Centred Approach, A case of Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development (AWSAD) Ethiopia |publisher=The University of Nairobi |pages=25–26 |url=http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/101922/Mengistu_Experences%20of%20Women%20Survivors%20of%20Gender-based%20Violence%20With%20Survivor-centred%20Approach%2c%20a%20Case%20of%20Association%20for%20Women%e2%80%99s%20Sanctuary%20and%20Development%20%28Awsad%29%20Ethiopia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ford |first1=Liz |title=Ethiopia's safe houses offer more than shelter to violence survivors – in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2016/jul/27/ethiopia-women-girls-safe-houses-shelter-ethiopia-female-survivors-violence-in-pictures |publisher=The Guardian}}</ref> In 2011 she met with Michelle Bachelet director of UN Women who paid a visit to AWSAD.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ethiopia: Regaining Hope for Life |date=February 2011 |publisher=UN Women |url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2011/2/ethiopia-regaining-hope-for-life}}</ref>
== Awards & accolades == Maria was presented with the AWiB's Women of Excellence award in 2015.<ref>{{cite book |title=Awarding Women's Rights Defenders |date=31 October 2015 |publisher=African Feminism |url=https://africanfeminism.com/awarding-womens-rights-defenders/}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusuf, Maria}} Category:Living people Category:Women lawyers Category:20th-century Ethiopian women Category:21st-century Ethiopian women Category:21st-century Ethiopian people Category:Ethiopian women's rights activists Category:Ethiopian women human rights activists Category:Ethiopian judges Category:Organization founders Category:Women founders Category:Ethiopian women Category:Ethiopian lawyers Category:People from Addis Ababa Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Women civil rights activists
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