Presentation of the Aletta Jacobs Prize 2020 to Khadija Arib

The Aletta Jacobs Prize 2020 of the University of Groningen is to be awarded to the President of the Dutch House of Representatives, Khadija Arib. She will be awarded the prize due to her relentless campaign for the position of Moroccan women in the Netherlands in particular, her inspiring exemplary role as the first female President of the House of Representatives with a migration background and for the way in which she highlighted the celebration of 100 years of suffrage as a celebration of universal suffrage for both men and women in the Netherlands (apart from the overseas territories).

Speakers: Nausicaa Marbe (writer, columnist and journalist) and Marjo Buitelaar (professor of Contemporary Islam)
Presentation: by Cisca Wijmenga (Rector) and Janka Stoker (chair of the jury)

“It is precisely in the year in which we celebrate 100 years of electoral law that, with the award of the prize to Khadija Arib, we want to emphasize the importance of democratic values such as freedom of expression and equal treatment for men and women”, says chair of the jury, prof. Janka Stoker. Thanks to her, we did not celebrate in 2017 (which marked 100 years since men were granted the right to vote) but instead, celebrated 100 years of universal suffrage in 2019. This year, there is no conceivable better winner of the Aletta Jacobs Prize.’

Khadija Arib (1960) was born in Morocco and moved to the Netherlands when she was 15 years old. Since 1998, she has been a member of the PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) faction of the House of Representatives. In 2016, she was elected President of the House of Representatives. In 2017, she was re-elected.

Read the complete announcement