STOCKHOLM — Jalila Haider is receiving the 2026 Right Livelihood Award as the first female lawyer from her persecuted Hazara Community. She has combined legal aid and street activism to achieve justice for Pakistan’s most vulnerable communities against a backdrop of extreme patriarchal and state oppression.
Haider will hold an online press conference today, September 30, at 14:00 CEST (12:00 GMT). Register now.
For 45 years, the Right Livelihood Award has honoured and supported courageous people leading the way to a just, peaceful and sustainable world for all. To date, 207 Laureates from 82 countries have received the Award, including Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, Congolese gynaecologist and women’s rights advocate Dr Denis Mukwege and American public interest lawyer Bryan Stevenson.
Jalila Haider provides pro bono defence to minorities, refugees and the transgender community in Balochistan, one of Pakistan’s most volatile regions where non-state actors — including the Taliban and sectarian militias — operate alongside the heavy presence of the military. Her law firm has handled more than 7,000 cases others deemed too risky or unprofitable, and has gotten 600 human rights defenders and political activists off no-fly lists.
In 2018, she led a seven-day hunger strike demanding an end to the targeted killing of her Hazara community, a Shia Muslim minority facing sustained sectarian violence and systemic segregation in Balochistan. The strike forced the Army Chief to meet with her directly and pledge protection for her community, marking the first time in the country’s history that Hazara women’s protests received national-level engagement.
“Human rights are universal rights for everyone: child, woman, man, girl, or transgender, regardless of ethnicity,” she said. “Even for those ethnicities that are sometimes involved in the persecution of my community, I cannot undermine their rights because they are universal. I choose them for everyone, even those who do wrong to me.”
Haider has continued her work despite repeated detention, cyber-harassment and death threats. Her name has twice been placed on the Exit Control List, and she survived a bomb blast in 2016 while mourning the death of her law colleague who was shot hours earlier on his way to court.
“I feel that without global recognition,” she has said, “I might have died before now.”
Right Livelihood’s jury said that Haider was receiving the Award “for breaking barriers, as the first female lawyer from her Hazara community, to challenge ethnic, state and patriarchal persecution, guided by the conviction that no human being is illegal.”
Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood’s Executive Director, said:
“Haider has built her life around the simple, radical idea that no human being is illegal. For over a decade, she has risked her own life to defend Pakistan’s most vulnerable communities from ethnic, religious, state and patriarchal repression, expertly combining legal aid and street activism to effect tangible change across Pakistani society for generations to come.”
The other 2026 Right Livelihood Laureates are:
- Rural Women’s Assembly (Online press conference: 11:00 CEST/09:00 GMT)
- The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (Online press conference: 10:00 CEST/08:00 GMT)
- Timnit Gebru (Online press conference: 18:00 CEST/16:00 GMT)
Register for the press conferences here.
The 2026 Laureates will be honoured during a televised Award Presentation in Stockholm on December 1.
Nominations are now also open for next year’s Award!
Find more information about the 2026 Laureates.
Download photos and videos of the new Laureates.
Media contacts
International media: Emoke Bebiak, emoke.bebiak@rightlivelihood.org, +41 78 333 84 84 and Sydney Söderqvist, sydney.soderqvist@rightlivelihood.org, +46 73 043 1301
German media: Julia Naumann and Nina Tesenfitz, presse@rightlivelihood.org, +49 170 5763 663
Spanish media: Nayla Azzinnari, nayla@rightlivelihood.org, +54 9 11 5460 9860
Scandinavian media: Vanessa Marko, vanessa.marko@arenaopinion.se, +46 76 321 6637
Photos, videos: Max-Michel Kolijn, maxmichel.kolijn@rightlivelihood.org
Short biography
Jalila Haider is a Hazara human rights lawyer and activist protecting Pakistan’s most vulnerable communities against state repression, patriarchal norms and ethnic violence. In 2018, she led a seven-day hunger strike against the targeted killing of Hazaras that forced the Army Chief to negotiate directly with Hazara women, resulting in a sustained decrease in attacks against the community.
By combining legal work with street activism and community empowerment, Haider has secured justice for thousands targeted or ignored by those in power, specifically ethnic, gender and religious minorities, as well as refugees. Her law firm has also helped restore freedom of movement for more than 600 political activists and human rights defenders.
As a founding member of the Women’s Democratic Front (WDF), Haider helped pioneer Balochistan’s first Women’s March, a street mobilisation that sparked discussions on feminism across the deeply patriarchal region. Her organisation “We the Humans” has also helped over 400 widows of terrorism victims gain financial independence. Despite detention, cyber-harassment and death threats, she continues working toward a world where, in her words, “no human being is illegal.”
Biographical information
Place of Birth: Quetta, Pakistan
Date of Birth: Dec 10, 1984
Education: University Law College, Quetta (LLB, 2010)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jalila.haider.3/
Twitter: @Advjalila
About Right Livelihood
For over 45 years, Right Livelihood has honoured and supported courageous people solving global problems. Housed under the umbrella of a foundation, Right Livelihood is a courage-powered community for social change committed to peace, justice and sustainability for all.
Each year, Right Livelihood highlights change-makers through an Award. To date, 207 Laureates from 82 countries have received the distinction. By recognising the actions of brave visionaries and building impactful connections around the world, Right Livelihood boosts urgent and long-term social change.
The Award was founded in 1980 following the Nobel Foundation’s rejection of a proposal to create two new prizes to honour individuals committed to advancing social justice and environmental causes, especially highlighting change-makers from the Global South.
Today, the work of Right Livelihood goes beyond presenting the Award: the Foundation provides Laureates with long-term support. Right Livelihood is a megaphone and a shield: raising their profile, providing protection when their lives and liberty are in danger, and educating people on their innovative solutions.
Right Livelihood is headquartered in Stockholm, with an office in Geneva. The Foundation has Consultative Status with the UN.
