>SdkbBot at 06:22, 5 June 2021

2021-06-05T06:22:49Z

New page

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Krishna Ahooja-Patel
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|3|15}}
| birth_place = [[Amritsar]], British Raj
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|12|27|1929|3|15}}
| death_place = near [[Ottawa]], Canada
| resting_place =
| citizenship = [[India]]
| occupation = Trade unionist, women's rights activist, journalist
| spouse =
| children =
| parents =
}}
'''Krishna Ahooja-Patel''' (March 15, 1929 in [[Amritsar|Amritsar, India]] – December 27, 2018 near [[Ottawa|Ottawa, Canada]]) was an Indian [[trade union]]ist, [[Women's rights|women's rights activist]], journalist, and [[Pacifism|pacifist]] who worked in various organizations such as the United Nations (UN).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.womeninpeace.org/a-names/2017/4/24/krishna-ahooja-patel|title=Krishna Ahooja-Patel|website=Women in Peace|access-date=November 27, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilpf.org/remembering-krishna-ahooja-patel/|title=Remembering Krishna Ahooja-Patel|last=Hooij|first=Charlotte|website=WILPF|access-date=November 27, 2019}}</ref>

== Life ==
Krishna Ahooja-Patel was born in 1929 as the eldest of five siblings in the North Indian [[Amritsar]]. The family believed in [[Sikhism]] and [[Hinduism]]. Her mother stayed home and her father was a progressive businessman. In 1942, the family moved to [[Mumbai|Bombay (now Mumbai)]] where, as a 13-year-old student, Krishna heard a speech by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] whose ideas deeply impressed her. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the [[University of Aligarh|University of Aligarh (U.P.), India]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://wikipeacewomen.org/wpworg/en/?page_id=2343|title=Krishna Ahooja-Patel (India) {{!}} WikiPeaceWomen – English|website=wikipeacewomen.org|access-date=November 27, 2019}}</ref>

From 1947 to 1962, Ahooja-Patel lived in the UK, where she studied law and worked for the [[BBC World Service|BBC]]. She married an Indian journalist who also worked for the BBC and later divorced her. From 1962 to 1987 she worked for the [[International Labour Organization|International Labor Organization]] (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, for which she initially worked as a [[Legal advice|legal adviser]] in Ethiopia and later moved to [[Geneva]]. In 1974, she represented the ILO at a conference on women and education in [[Cambridge]] and was then responsible for the interests of female workers at the ILO. From 1977 to 1987 she published the magazine ''Women's Network''.<ref name=":1" />

In the 1990s, Ahooja-Patel was Deputy Director of the [[United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women|International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)]] in the [[Dominican Republic]] and President of the [[Women's World Summit]]. In 1995, she traveled to Beijing with a Peace Movement organized by the [[Women's International League for Peace and Freedom|Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)]] for the Fourth UN World Conference on Women and joined WILPF.

Starting in 2000, Ahooja-Patel and the WILPF worked to translate [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325|UN Security Council Resolution 1325]] into as many languages as possible to spread it around the world, thereby increasing the pressure on the UN to actually implement the resolution. The resolution emphasizes the important role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts and peace processes. Other central topics of the WILPF are peace education, women's rights, [[disarmament]], and the strengthening of the UN. In 2001, Ahooja-Patel became the first non-white president of WILPF. She devoted herself to this task until 2004.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.epw.in/author/krishna-ahooja-patel|title=Krishna Ahooja-Patel|date=June 5, 2015|website=Economic and Political Weekly|access-date=November 27, 2019}}</ref>

In 2002, she witnessed the riots between [[Hindus]] and [[Muslims]] in [[Gujarat|Gujarat state]], where more than 1,000 people were killed. In 2003, she organized a seminar for peace and reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims. Together with her second husband, she headed the [[Institute for Economic Justice and Development]] at [[Gujarat University]] in [[Ahmedabad|Ahmedabad, India]]. In December 2004 she was elected President of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in Geneva, an umbrella organization belonging to the more than 35 international NGOs.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/authors/view/krishna-ahoojapatel|title=Krishna Ahoojapatel – Fernwood Publishing|website=fernwoodpublishing.ca|access-date=November 27, 2019}}</ref> IN 2005, Ahooja-Patel was nominated for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for the Nobel Peace Prize in the framework of the project 1000 Women.<ref name=":2" />

On December 27, 2018, Krishna Ahooja-Patel died after a brief illness in a retirement home near Ottawa, Canada, where she had spent the last few years of her life.<ref name=":0" />

== Quote ==
Krishna Ahooja-Patel is considered the author of the quote:<blockquote>"Women are half of the world's population, do two-thirds of the work, get one-tenth of the income, and are the owners of one per cent of the property."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /></blockquote>

== Literature ==

* [http://buchdeutsch.1000peacewomen.org/index.php 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe], Contrast Publishing, 2005.

== External links ==

* Short biography on [http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/622 World People's Blog]
* [https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/guest-dr-krishna-ahooja-patel Interview]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahooja-Patel, Krishna}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Amritsar]]
[[Category:Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people]]
[[Category:Indian trade unionists]]

Krishna Ahooja-Patel - Revision history

>SdkbBot at 06:22, 5 June 2021