Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
An award in the form of $1 million has been given to Aicha Ech Channa - a Moroccan who founded the Association Solidarité Feminine, an organization that provides services to unmarried women with children. The University of St. Thomas and the Opus Prize Foundation (USA) presented the award on Wednesday.
Ech Channa, 68, founded the organization in Casablanca in 1985 after observing the struggles of single mothers, Moroccan news agency MAP said.
Ech Channa, a Muslim, was quoted by MAP as saying she wants her association to "be a model that provides an example for the respect of human rights, economic development and confidence in humanism."
She now operates three day care centres and training schools, two restaurants, four street kiosks, and a fitness centre and spa.
More than 50 women receive training each year in literacy, human rights, cooking, accounting and other areas. Child care and other services are also provided.
She was born in the New Medina of Casablanca and studied to become a state nurse. Her association won a human rights award from the French government in 1995.
The Opus Prize Foundation works with Catholic universities to support faith-based humanitarian efforts anywhere in the world.
The other finalists are Sister Valeriana Garcia-Martin of Bogota, Colombia, and Father Hans Stapel of Guaratingueta, Brazil. Each received $100,000.
An award in the form of $1 million has been given to Aicha Ech Channa - a Moroccan who founded the Association Solidarité Feminine, an organization that provides services to unmarried women with children. The University of St. Thomas and the Opus Prize Foundation (USA) presented the award on Wednesday.
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