Sally Wishart Armstrong (born 1943) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

journalist, documentary filmmaker, and human rights activist.

Career

Armstrong was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. She received a Bachelor of Education degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in 1966 and a Master of Science degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

in 2001. From 1975 to 1988, she worked for ''

Canadian Living ''Canadian Living'' is a monthly Canadian lifestyle magazine, which publishes articles relating to food, fashion, crafts, and health and family advice. History and profile The magazine was created by Clem Compton-Smith and his business partner, ...

'' magazine. From 1988 to 1999 she was editor-in-chief of ''

Homemakers Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a house ...

'' magazine. She was a contributing editor of

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

from 2001 to 2010. In 2002, she was

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

's Special Representative to Afghanistan. She is the author of ''Mila'' (1992), ''Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan'' (2002), ''The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor'' (2007), ''Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots: The Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan's Women'' (2008), and ''Ascent of Women: A New Age Is Dawning for Every Mother's Daughter'' (2013). In 2001, she was the scriptwriter for the documentary ''Falling from the Sky'' and ''Daughters of Afghanistan'' in 2003.

Honours

In 1998, she was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. In 2002, she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from McGill University. In 2000, she won the Amnesty International Media Award for her article “Honour’s Victims” in ''Chatelaine'' magazine. She won again in 2002, for her article “Speaking their peace” in ''Chatelaine'' magazine and again in 2011 for her article “These Little Girls are Setting out to Change the World” in ''Chatelaine''. She provided critical support to Richard Gordon with the founding of the charity Books With Wings. Sally Armstrong is a member of a UN group consisting of 20

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

women, 20

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i women and 12 women of other nationality working to help bringing peace to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. In 1996 she was awarded Women of Distinction Award in Communications by the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

of Toronto. She was the invited speaker for the 2019 CBC

Massey Lectures The Massey Lectures is an annual five-part series of lectures given in Canada by distinguished writers, thinkers and scholars who explore important ideas and issues of contemporary interest. Created in 1961 in honour of Vincent Massey, the former ...

, a series entitled "Power Shift: The Longest Revolution", in which she said that "improving the status of women was crucial to our collective surviving — and thriving."

Personal

She is the mother of

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

journalist Peter Armstrong."When author talks, people listen". ''Calgary Herald'', October 15, 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Sally 1943 births Living people Activists from Montreal Canadian human rights activists Women human rights activists Canadian magazine editors Canadian women journalists Canadian social commentators Journalists from Montreal McGill University Faculty of Education alumni Officers of the Order of Canada University of Toronto alumni Writers from Montreal Canadian women non-fiction writers Women magazine editors