Success stories of Palestinian achievers from all over the world

Fadia Daibes Murad

Personal Info

  • Country of residence: Palestine
  • Gender: Female
  • Born in: 1966
  • Age: 50
  • Curriculum vitae :

Information

Dr. Fadia Daibes Murad was one of Palestine’s foremost experts on water rights. She combined her expertise in international law with a deep passion for arts and culture, especially music, and a devotion to her family and wide circle of friends. Although she died at the young age of 43, her many accomplishments are still remembered. 

Fadia was born on October 19, 1966 in Jerusalem, where she completed her primary and high school education. She then moved to study civil engineering at Birzeit University and obtained her bachelor’s degree in 1991. However, Fadia did not wait until graduation to start her professional career, and got her first job as a field engineer working for Save the Children in 1988. From there, she moved to work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency researching the living conditions of Palestinian refugees. After her graduation, Fadia worked with the Palestinian Hydrology Group and started to show great interest in issues related to water and water resources. 

Fadia stayed at her job until September 1994 when she decided to go back to school. She obtained her MS in groundwater engineering from New Castle upon Tyne University in England. She then started working as the coordinator for the Palestinian-Norwegian Programme for Institutional and Capacity Building of the Palestinian Water Authority. Fadia was not the type of person to be satisfied with a job or a position just because it was important. She was always keen on gaining knowledge and ready to explore new areas within her field of specialisation. She was also capable of envisioning the potential future threats surrounding the water sector and Palestinian water rights. Water, according to Fadia, is life. 

Her area of specialisation was environmental and water law in Palestine in general, with a comprehensive focus on Israel and Palestine in terms of the sharing, or rather the lack thereof, of water and other environmental resources. She defended a human rights approach to the equitable distribution of water resources between the two states and the pursuit of a just and lasting solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Fadia realised, through her experience, that rights require the power of the law to support and safeguard them. To Fadia, fighting the battle over water rights was possible only through an in-depth knowledge of international water law, so she joined a special one-year programme on water law and policies at Dundee University and obtained an LLM degree in 2001. After that, she decided to upgrade her education and obtain a PhD in water law and policies. 

In addition to her work, Fadia was a warm and loving wife and mother, raising two boys. She was also devoted to the hundreds of friends she collected over her lifetime and is remembered for her warm smile and generosity. Fadia’s life was destined to be short in terms of time, but long in terms of accomplishments. Fadia departed, but left behind a legacy: her focus on dignity and justice, her belief in freedom, her use of education and culture as a weapon, her passion for music and aesthetics, and her ultimate love for Palestine. So, did she leave after all?



Source

Achievements and Awards

Fadia worked as a consultant for the Nordic Consulting Group and, in 2003, prepared an evaluation of the Norwegian assistance to the Middle East multilateral negotiations on water. In 2004, Fadia obtained her PhD and the title of her thesis was “A New Legal Framework for Managing Shared Underground Water Around the World: A Case Study from the Middle East.” It was later published as a book, which is now considered one of the important reference materials in the field of water rights. This earned her the prestigious Edberg prize in 2005. 

Fadia raised her voice at all possible forums and on all possible occasions in defence of the right to water and the right to life. She lobbied the United Nations for the Right to Water, which was adopted in 2010, a year and a-half after her death. She talked about injustice and fought against all its forms. She wrote and published many articles. She warned against future threats, saying that water is a human right and that water, as a right, should not be politicised. She fought against all attempts to forfeit the Palestinian water rights. She studied, did research, refuted claims, and always shared her knowledge with others. She was a sincere advocate for her people’s rights until the last week of her life, when she attended the second world conference on water and then attended a thematic workshop on water with Amnesty International in Switzerland

Despite the fact that water was Fadia’s main concern, her interests were varied. She worked with DanChurchAid and served as the organisation’s official representative in the area. Through her charity work, she took an interest in women’s and health issues. She also took up lobbying and advocacy activities because she considered that the real support to the Palestinians lies in working to end the Occupation, rather than just providing humanitarian assistance in the form of food and medicine. Culture, and music in particular, had a special place in Fadia’s life and was one of the main elements that shaped her identity, giving her a humane and universal nature. Fadia had a beautiful voice and often sang to Palestine, to love, to life, and to happiness.

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