Nazanin Afshin-Jam
Encyclopedia
Nazanin Afshin-Jam is a Persian Human Rights Activist, Public Speaker, President and Co-Founder of Stop Child Executions, Singer, Songwriter, model, actress, pilot, former Miss World Canada and Miss World 1st runner-up. She immigrated to Canada with her family in 1981.
with a degree in International Relations and Political Science, and undertook scholarship studies at the prestigious Science Po in Paris
and the International Study Center Herstmonceux Castle
in England
. After graduation she worked with the Red Cross as a Global Youth Educator, teaching on subjects ranging from the Landmine Crisis, Children affected by War, the Poverty-Disease Cycle to Natural Disasters. She returned to school and earned a Master of International Diplomacy from Norwich University.
and joined in the Miss World
contest in Sanya
, China
. She ranked second there, behind Rosanna Davison
, Miss Ireland
2003.
Nazanin entered the Miss World competition whose motto is “beauty with a purpose” to have a stronger platform to speak on human rights issues. Nazanin traveled worldwide representing many causes including helping victims of the tsunami in India and Sri Lanka, raising funds for the earthquake victims of Bam, supporting fistula patients in Ethiopia, fundraising for Variety the Children's Charity,bridging the digital divide through youth advocacy and raising awareness on the practice of Bear Bile Farming in China.
Nazanin is also a pilot and is licensed to fly both powered aircraft and gliders and has achieved the highest rank in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets
-- Warrant Officer First Class. She is fluent in three languages: Persian
, English
and French
.
She was opposed to the death penalty
being applied to 18-year-old namesake Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi
, who was sentenced to hang
for stabbing one of three men who tried to rape
her and her niece in Karaj
in March 2005. She started a campaign to help save the life of this minor including a petition
which attracted more than 350,000 signatures worldwide. She has also dedicated her song "Someday the Revolution song" -one of the 12 songs on her album -Someday to Nazanin Fatehi and some other youth in Iran.
http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2006/04/beautiful-brainy-and-passionate-about.html.
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 exhonerated of murder charges and was released on January 31, 2007 after Nazanin raised $43,000 on-line for bail while her lawyers worked on her case.
For her efforts in helping save Nazanin Fatehi, Nazanin Afshin-Jam was awarded the “hero for human rights award” from Youth For Human Rights International and Artists for Human Rights at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam initiated Stop Child Executions Campaign
and petition to help other 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 Stop Child Executions Organization whose aim is to try to put a permanent end to executions of minors in Iran and abroad http://www.stopchildexecutions.com http://www.stopchildexecutions.com.
To date, SCE has managed to help save many lives.
As of February 2008, Nazanin was appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada's office to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation
.
On the 9th anniversary of the student uprising in Iran, Nazanin Afshin-Jam made a speech in the UK parliament, commemorating the uprising and mentioned some of the victims of the uprising.
On September 23, 2008 Nazanin organized "Ahmadinejad's Wall of Shame" rally at Dag Hammarskjöld
park across the United Nations in New York as Ahmadinejad was addressing the General Assembly.
In November 2008 Nazanin received the "Global Citizenship Award" by the University of British Columbia's Alumni Association
http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/events/awards/index.php
In April 2009 Nazanin received the "Human Rights Hero Award" from UN Watch in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2009 Nazanin will be playing the role of Táhirih
in Jack Lenz
's upcoming movie Mona's Dream about the life of Mona Mahmudnizhad
. In 2009 she signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com
along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about the Persecution of Bahá'ís
.
In 2009, Nazanin won the YMCA Power of Peace Award as “Young Emerging Leader”.
Through her speeches and music Nazanin hopes to continue being a “voice for the voiceless” and deliver her messages of freedom, peace and love worldwide.
Music.
Bringing fresh phonic fusion to the forefront she combines a variety of rhythms, beats and melodies from all corners of the globe. Nazanin’s international upbringing and rich history fuel her music, as is evident in her multilingual release. She sings in English, French, Persian
and Spanish. This genre-spanning song selection could be classified in many categories with prevalence in: Pop, Dance and World Beat.
Nazanin has charted a new entry (No. 20) in the Music Week - Commercial Pop Top 30 Club Chart with her debut single, "I Dance 4 U". http://www.bodogbeat.com/archives/2006/05/bodogmusic_arti.html. The music video for the song has also been released http://www.bodogmusic.com/player/player.php?x=3
Nazanin has been climbing the ac FMQB Top 40 chart in the US and is currently at #7 for her single "Someday" http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16693. The music video for this song has also been released http://www.bodogmusic.com/nazanin/
Nazanin's new single "I Do" has been climbing the Billboard chart (adult contemporary music) and is currently #39.
Nazanin's Christmas single "On Christmas Day" has also charted. In its first week of release it was ranked #59 on the ACQB chart. All proceeds of the song go to the Stop Child Executions Campaign. http://www.stopchildexecutions.com
Nazanin wants to compose songs on Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalits in India.
Special Awards
Career
She graduated from the University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
with a degree in International Relations and Political Science, and undertook scholarship studies at the prestigious Science Po in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the International Study Center Herstmonceux Castle
Herstmonceux Castle
Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built Tudor castle near Herstmonceux, East Sussex, United Kingdom. From 1957 to 1988 its grounds were the home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. After graduation she worked with the Red Cross as a Global Youth Educator, teaching on subjects ranging from the Landmine Crisis, Children affected by War, the Poverty-Disease Cycle to Natural Disasters. She returned to school and earned a Master of International Diplomacy from Norwich University.
Miss World
She is an international model and actress and in 2003 she became Miss World CanadaMiss World Canada
The Miss World Canada contest is an beauty pageant, held mostly annually in various incarnations and with several different names since 1957, to select Canada's representative to the Miss World contest. The Canadian franchise was currently owned by Upstage This! Productions, based in Vancouver,...
and joined in the Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
contest in Sanya
Sanya
Sanya is the southernmost city in China and is a part of Hainan Province. In 2006, it had a population of 536,000, making it, after the provincial capital , the second most populous city on the island. The city is renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination,...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. She ranked second there, behind Rosanna Davison
Rosanna Davison
Rosanna Diane Davison was the winner of the Miss World 2003 title. She is the daughter of musician Chris de Burgh. The song "For Rosanna" was written by her father in her honour for his 1986 album, Into The Light.-Education:Her primary education was at Aravon School, in Co...
, Miss Ireland
Miss Ireland
Miss Ireland is a national beauty pageant held in the Republic of Ireland each year, to celebrate the country's most beautiful women. Winners of the contest represent Ireland at the Miss World pageant. Other winners, including Roberta Brown and Siobhan McClaffey have also been delegates at rival...
2003.
Nazanin entered the Miss World competition whose motto is “beauty with a purpose” to have a stronger platform to speak on human rights issues. Nazanin traveled worldwide representing many causes including helping victims of the tsunami in India and Sri Lanka, raising funds for the earthquake victims of Bam, supporting fistula patients in Ethiopia, fundraising for Variety the Children's Charity,bridging the digital divide through youth advocacy and raising awareness on the practice of Bear Bile Farming in China.
Activism and Awards
Nazanin continues to address human rights abuses worldwide particularly in relation to women and children in Iran and the Middle East including speeches at UN, EU, Canadian and UK Parliament. She has had media features on CNN, BBC, CBC, FOX, Al Jazeera and numerous radio shows, talk shows and print including Glamour, Seventeen, Chatelaine, Flare and Vanity Fair magazine.Nazanin is also a pilot and is licensed to fly both powered aircraft and gliders and has achieved the highest rank in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets
Royal Canadian Air Cadets
Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a Canadian national youth program for persons aged 12 to 18. It is administered by the Canadian Forces and funded through the Department of National Defence with additional support from the civilian Air Cadet League of Canada...
-- Warrant Officer First Class. She is fluent in three languages: Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
She was opposed to the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
being applied to 18-year-old namesake Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi
Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi
Nazanin Fatehi is an Iranian girl who was sentenced to death for stabbing a man who allegedly tried to rape her and her 15 year old niece, Somayeh...
, who was sentenced to hang
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
for stabbing one of three men who tried to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
her and her niece in Karaj
Karaj
Karaj is a city in and the capital of Karaj County, Alborz Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 1,377,450, in 385,955 families, , making it the fifth-largest city in Iran after Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan and Tabriz.) It is situated west of Tehran, at the foothills of the Alborz...
in March 2005. She started a campaign to help save the life of this minor including a petition
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....
which attracted more than 350,000 signatures worldwide. She has also dedicated her song "Someday the Revolution song" -one of the 12 songs on her album -Someday to Nazanin Fatehi and some other youth in Iran.
http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2006/04/beautiful-brainy-and-passionate-about.html.
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 exhonerated of murder charges and was released on January 31, 2007 after Nazanin raised $43,000 on-line for bail while her lawyers worked on her case.
For her efforts in helping save Nazanin Fatehi, Nazanin Afshin-Jam was awarded the “hero for human rights award” from Youth For Human Rights International and Artists for Human Rights at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam initiated Stop Child Executions Campaign
Stop Child Executions Campaign
Stop Child Executions is a non-profit organization co-founded by Nazanin Afshin-Jam that aims to put an end to executions of minors in Iran. The organization campaigns to raise awareness about the issue and to put pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, both in Iran and...
and petition to help other 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 Stop Child Executions Organization whose aim is to try to put a permanent end to executions of minors in Iran and abroad http://www.stopchildexecutions.com http://www.stopchildexecutions.com.
To date, SCE has managed to help save many lives.
As of February 2008, Nazanin was appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada's office to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Canadian Race Relations Foundation is a Canadian government agency responsible to foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding and help to eliminate racism. The foundation was opened in November 1997, after receiving royal assent on February 1, 1991. The Foundation operates at "arms...
.
On the 9th anniversary of the student uprising in Iran, Nazanin Afshin-Jam made a speech in the UK parliament, commemorating the uprising and mentioned some of the victims of the uprising.
On September 23, 2008 Nazanin organized "Ahmadinejad's Wall of Shame" rally at Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld...
park across the United Nations in New York as Ahmadinejad was addressing the General Assembly.
In November 2008 Nazanin received the "Global Citizenship Award" by the University of British Columbia's Alumni Association
http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/events/awards/index.php
In April 2009 Nazanin received the "Human Rights Hero Award" from UN Watch in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2009 Nazanin will be playing the role of Táhirih
Táhirih
Táhirih or Qurratu'l-`Ayn are both titles of Fátimih Baraghání , an influential poet and theologian of the Bábí Faith in Iran. Her life, influence and execution made her a key figure of the religion...
in Jack Lenz
Jack Lenz
Jack Lenz is a Canadian Bahá'í composer. He has written, performed, and produced music for film, television, and theatre, along with working on non-soundtrack album ventures. He is also the founder of Live Unity Enterprises, an organization devoted to the production of music for the Bahá'í...
's upcoming movie Mona's Dream about the life of Mona Mahmudnizhad
Mona Mahmudnizhad
Mona Mahmudnizhad was an Iranian Bahá'í who, in 1983, together with nine other Bahá'í women, was sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran because of her membership in the Bahá'í Faith...
. In 2009 she signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com
Iranian.com
Iranian.com, also known as The Iranian and The Iranian Times, is an online English language magazine.Founded in July 1995 by entrepreneur/journalist Jahanshah Javid, Iranian.com has the largest online following among Iranians residing in North America, with about 68,000 visitors per month-Awards...
along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about the Persecution of Bahá'ís
Persecution of Bahá'ís
The persecution of Bahá'ís is the religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world...
.
In 2009, Nazanin won the YMCA Power of Peace Award as “Young Emerging Leader”.
Through her speeches and music Nazanin hopes to continue being a “voice for the voiceless” and deliver her messages of freedom, peace and love worldwide.
TEDxVancouver
On November 27, at the Kay Meek centre in Vancouver, Nazanin Afshin-Jam gave a talk about her activism and the story leading her to become an activist to a crowd of 500 people.Music
Her debut album album was released in April 2007 via BodogBodog
Bodog is an online entertainment brand launched in 1994 by Calvin Ayre.Originally the company traded at but the brand was later divested and intellectual property rights were assigned to and consolidated in BodogBrand.com...
Music.
Bringing fresh phonic fusion to the forefront she combines a variety of rhythms, beats and melodies from all corners of the globe. Nazanin’s international upbringing and rich history fuel her music, as is evident in her multilingual release. She sings in English, French, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Spanish. This genre-spanning song selection could be classified in many categories with prevalence in: Pop, Dance and World Beat.
Nazanin has charted a new entry (No. 20) in the Music Week - Commercial Pop Top 30 Club Chart with her debut single, "I Dance 4 U". http://www.bodogbeat.com/archives/2006/05/bodogmusic_arti.html. The music video for the song has also been released http://www.bodogmusic.com/player/player.php?x=3
Nazanin has been climbing the ac FMQB Top 40 chart in the US and is currently at #7 for her single "Someday" http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16693. The music video for this song has also been released http://www.bodogmusic.com/nazanin/
Nazanin's new single "I Do" has been climbing the Billboard chart (adult contemporary music) and is currently #39.
Nazanin's Christmas single "On Christmas Day" has also charted. In its first week of release it was ranked #59 on the ACQB chart. All proceeds of the song go to the Stop Child Executions Campaign. http://www.stopchildexecutions.com
Nazanin wants to compose songs on Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalits in India.
Miss World 1st runner up 2003: Nazanin Afshin-Jam
Special Awards- Miss Sport 2003
- Queen of the America, 2003
- 50 most beautiful people in the World
- 100 most talented girls in 2010s.
Miss World Canada 2003: Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Miss Vancouver
- 1st Runner-up: Marie-Andrée Poulin, Miss Montreal
- 2nd Runner-up: Yolaine Grant, Miss Ottawa
Special Awards
- Swimwear/Beach Beauty: Nazanin Afshin-Jam
External links
- Official website
- Nazanin Music
- NAZANIN - On Music, Human Rights and Nazanin Fatehi (Exclusive Interview with BODAZEY.COM
- Miss World Canada official website
- "Someday" music video
- "I Dance 4 U" music video
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam's Help Nazanin Fatehi campaign site
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam's Stop Child Executions Campaign site
- Nazanin Interview on Fox News Radio