This award was established by the INMED Board of Directors to recognize people who demonstrate care and concern for those in need, who give selflessly of their time and resources, and who inspire others to take similar action.
Compassion is at the center of Lawand Talal’s professional life. This American-trained Kurdish attorney abandoned a lucrative career to instead join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of behalf of Syrians searching for asylum in Iraqi Kurdistan. Refugees include the entire spectrum of humanity. Disabled Syrian refugees are Lawand’s specialty, bringing to bear the principles of international law on behalf of those afflicted by cerebral palsy, learning disorders, schizophrenia, paraplegia; in short, people who are the least capable of defending themselves. “We Kurds are a persecuted people, condemned for centuries by foreign lords,” proclaims Lawand Talal. “So, when Syrians fleeing utter terror from ISIS arrive at our borders how can we not but respond with compassion?”