Two students from Utrecht nominated for ECHO award
This year, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ has nominated two students for the ECHO award, an award of the centre for diversity policy in higher education for talented students with bicultural backgrounds. The Diversity Task Force organised a festive meeting for the two nominees.
Moska Hassanzai, a Master's student of Pharmacy, has been nominated by Director of Education Aukje Mantel. Moska devoted herself to, among other things, the Students Desk Utrecht of the Red Cross and to BOSK, the association for people with physical handicaps. She also writes pieces about her own experiences for Wervelingen, the magazine of the association for Scoliosis patients. Moska is a Board Member for the Nang Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports Afghanis, both in Afghanistan and in the Netherlands, with its projects as much as possible.
Ali Aljasem, a Master's student of Conflict Studies, has been nominated as well. He has been nominated by Assistant Professor Mario Fumerton. Besides his studies as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer and an Ideology Analyst, Ali also worked for Doctors Without Borders. He lives in the Netherlands since 2015 and actively devoted himself to making the conflict in Syria more visible, which includes organising benefit concerts and fundraisers, and the founding of the student collective 'From Utrecht, this is Aleppo’ and the platform ‘New Neighbors’. For his Master's degree, he researches the early protests against the Al-Assad regime at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Aleppo by using his own network in Syria and his personal experiences.
The jury of the ECHO award has selected Ali Aljasem for the next round. The is on 29 September.