Nazanin Afshin-Jam
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Nazanin Afshin-Jam ( fa, نازنین افشین جم, ''Nāzanin Afŝin Jam'', born April 11, 1979) is an
Iranian-Canadian Iranian Canadians or Persian Canadians are citizens of Canada whose national background is traced from Iran or are people possessing Iranian and Canadian dual citizenship. From the 2016 Canadian census, the main communities can be found in Southe ...
human rights activist, author and public speaker. She is a former
Miss World Canada The Miss World Canada contest is a Beauty pageant held annually in different incarnations since 1957 to select Canada's representative to the Miss World contest. In 2017 MTC-W Inc. obtained the exclusive rights to send the Canadian representative ...
. She is also president and co-founder of ''Stop Child Executions'' as well as the founder of "The Nazanin Foundation". She immigrated to Canada with her family in 1981. She is married to
Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007 ...
, former
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada The minister of justice and attorney general of Canada () is a dual-role portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet. The officeholder in the role of Minister of Justice () serves as the minister of the Crown responsible for the Department of Justice an ...
.


Childhood

Nazanin Afshin-Jam was born on April 11, 1979, in Tehran, Iran. Her father was the head of the Sheraton Hotel in Tehran (now the Tehran Homa Hotel) which was frequented by Westerners. During the
Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, her father was jailed by the Revolutionary Guard. After he was freed from prison, he fled Iran with his family to Spain, and after a year they moved to Canada as immigrants, settling in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
.


Education and Red Cross work

Afshin-Jam graduated from the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
with degrees in international relations and political science. In 2011, she earned her Master of Arts in Diplomacy from
Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...
. She has an honorary doctorate of laws from the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
. Following her graduation, Afshin-Jam served with the Red Cross as a Global Youth Educator, becoming involved in such matters as
land mines A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatic ...
, children and war, the poverty-disease cycle, and natural disasters.


Miss World competition

In 2003, Afshin-Jam became
Miss World Canada The Miss World Canada contest is a Beauty pageant held annually in different incarnations since 1957 to select Canada's representative to the Miss World contest. In 2017 MTC-W Inc. obtained the exclusive rights to send the Canadian representative ...
and joined in the
Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...
contest in
Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, where she placed second.


Activism and awards

Afshin-Jam was opposed to the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
being applied to 18-year-old Iranian woman Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi, who was sentenced to
hang Hang or Hanging may refer to: People * Choe Hang (disambiguation), various people * Luciano Hang (born 1962/1963), Brazilian billionaire businessman * Ren Hang (disambiguation), various people Law * Hanging, a form of capital punishment Arts, e ...
for stabbing one of three men who tried to
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
her and her niece in
Karaj Karaj ( fa, کرج, ) is the capital of Alborz Province, Iran, and effectively a satellite city of Tehran. Although the county hosts a population around 1.97 million, as recorded in the 2016 census, most of the county is rugged mountain. The urb ...
in March 2005. She started a campaign to help save the life of this minor including a
petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
which attracted more than 350,000 signatures worldwide. She has also dedicated her song ''Someday'', one of the twelve songs on her similarly titled album ''Someday'' to Nazanin Fatehi. Eventually, with pressure from the international community, Nazanin Fatehi was granted a new trial by the head of Judiciary in June 2006. In January 2007, Nazanin Fatehi was exonerated of murder charges and was released after Afshin-Jam raised $43,000 on-line for bail while her lawyers worked on her case. For her efforts in helping save Nazanin Fatehi, Afshin-Jam was awarded the "hero for human rights award" from Youth For Human Rights International and Artists for Human Rights. ''The Tale of Two Nazanins'' by Afshin-Jam and Susan McClelland, chronicling the divergent lives of the 2 Iranian Nazanins whose lives intersected during Fatehi's trial, was published by HarperCollins. Afshin-Jam initiated the
Stop Child Executions Campaign Stop Child Executions was a non-profit organization co-founded by Nazanin Afshin-Jam that aims to put an end to executions of minors in Iran. The organization campaigned to raise awareness about the issue and to put pressure on the government of ...
and petitioned to help children on death row; the campaign was registered as a non-profit organization with 501-C 3 status in 2008. She is co-founder and President of the Stop Child Executions Organization, whose aim is to put a permanent end to executions of minors in Iran and abroad. On September 23, 2008, Afshin-Jam organized "Ahmadinejad's Wall of Shame" rally at
Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...
park across the United Nations in New York as Ahmadinejad was addressing the General Assembly. In November 2008, Afshin-Jam received the "Global Citizenship Award" by the University of British Columbia's Alumni Association In April 2009, Afshin-Jam received the "Human Rights Hero Award" from
UN Watch UN Watch is a Geneva-based non-governmental organization whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic a ...
in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2009 Afshin-Jam was given the Emerging Leader Peacemaker Award by the YMCA's Power of Peace Awards. That same year, Afshin-Jam signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, and journalists about the
persecution of Baháʼís Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...
. That same year she chaired the first annual
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is an annual human rights summit sponsored by a coalition of 20 non-governmental organizations. Each year, on the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council's main annual session, activists from a ...
. In 2012, she advocated for the closure of the Canadian embassy in Tehran. In 2012, Afshin-Jam received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2016 she was conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws, honoris causa from the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
.


Film work

Afshin-Jam participated, together with eight other women's rights activists, in the documentary film Honor Diaries which explores the issues of gender-based violence and inequality in Muslim-majority societies. Her personal story was featured alongside those of the other activists, all of whom are working to combat gender prejudice that is embedded in honor-based societies. She also took on the role of ' Shaggy Chick' in '' Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'', where
Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in ''Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in ''Scream'' (1996), Stevo in ''SLC Punk ...
's face was attached to her body using CGI during a gag involving magic potions.


Music

Afshin-Jam's debut album, ''Someday'' was released in April 2007 by Bodog Music. It spans many different music genres, including world music influenced by
Alabina Alabina is a French-based group that performs a mix of world music: Middle Eastern, Arabic, French, Hebrew, and Spanish Gypsy music. Alabina consists of lead singer Ishtar, who does the female vocals, and the band Los Niños de Sara, who provi ...
. Several of Afshin-Jam's songs have made the Top 30 and Top 40 charts. Her debut single, "I Dance 4 U" charted at #20 in the Music Week - Commercial Pop Top 30 Club Chart (a music video for the song has been released). Afshim-Jam's single "Someday" has been climbing the FMQB Top 40 chart in the U.S. and is currently at #7. Her new single "I Do" reached #39 on the Billboard Chart in adult contemporary music. A Christmas single "On Christmas Day" has also made the charts, ranking #59 on the ACQB chart. The proceeds from the song are contributed to the Stop Child Executions Campaign.


Personal life

A licensed pilot, Afshin-Jam flies both powered aircraft and gliders and achieved the highest rank in the
Royal Canadian Air Cadets The Royal Canadian Air Cadets (french: Cadets de l'Aviation royale du Canada) is a Canadian national youth program for young individuals aged 12 to 18. Under the authority of the National Defence Act, the program is administered by the Canadian F ...
—Warrant Officer First Class. She was raised a Catholic and remains a practising one. In 2011, she earned her Master of Arts in Diplomacy from
Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...
. On January 4, 2012, Afshin-Jam married
Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007 ...
, then the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, at a private ceremony in Mexico. The couple have two sons, one named Kian, born in 2013 and another named Caledon, born in 2018 and one daughter named Valentia, born in 2015.


Bibliography

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References


External links

* *
Afshin-Jam's mini-doc from Honor Diaries film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afshin-Jam, Nazanin 1979 births Living people Canadian human rights activists Women human rights activists Female models from British Columbia Canadian Roman Catholics Iranian activists Iranian emigrants to Canada Iranian female models 21st-century Iranian women singers Iranian Roman Catholics Miss World 2003 delegates Miss World Canada winners Musicians from Vancouver Naturalized citizens of Canada Singers from Tehran Spouses of Canadian politicians University of British Columbia alumni 21st-century Canadian women singers