Jansila Majeed is an activist in Sri Lanka's

Puttalam District Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and ...

. She is the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund in Puttalam, which is an NGO which promotes minority rights and women's rights. Prior to her work with the Community Trust Fund, Majeed lived as an

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

(IDP) for 20 years, and she continues to advocate for the rights of Muslim and Tamil IDPs. In 2010, she was named an International Woman of Courage by the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

, receiving her award from First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

and Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. She was also a speaker at the launch of the UNDP 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report on Gender, and stated that Sri Lanka must change its attitude about women's rights in order to fix issues such as women’s political participation, access to legal rights and women’s participation in the workforce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Majeed, Jansila Living people Sri Lankan activists Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Sri Lankan women activists Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award