BBC, 23 November 2020

Below is an article published by BBC.

The BBC has revealed its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2020.

This year 100 Women is highlighting those who are leading change and making a difference during these turbulent times.

The list includes Sanna Marin, who leads Finland’s all-female coalition government, Michelle Yeoh, star of the new Avatar and Marvel films and Sarah Gilbert, who heads the Oxford University research into a coronavirus vaccine, as well as Jane Fonda, a climate activist and actress.

And in an extraordinary year – when countless women around the world have made sacrifices to help others – one name on the 100 Women list has been left blank as a tribute.

Muyesser Abdul’ehed who goes by her pen name, Hendan, began making a name for herself as a poet and essayist while studying medicine. By the time she completed her master’s degree in public health, she had resolved to focus on writing.

After relocating to Turkey in 2013, Hendan founded Ayhan Education, an organisation devoted to fostering and teaching the Uighur language in the diaspora. She currently lives in Istanbul.

Hendan’s recent work grapples with the crisis in her homeland. Her debut novel, Kheyr-khosh, quyash (Farewell to the Sun), is the first extended work of fiction to focus on the detention camps in the Uighur region.

Children are always the hope of a nation. It is education that can make this hope become reality.