London: A Moroccan woman cartoonist, called Riham El-Hour, has been named on the BBC’s 100 Women List for 2016.
Every year, the BBC selects the world’s most prominent influential and inspirational 100 women, seeking to highlight their efforts and shed light on their projects. The list is designed to bring groundbreaking moments of defiance, new takes on fairy tales, and stories of octogenarian cheerleading, according to the BBC, Morocco World News reported.
El-Hour was appointed alongside 100 other international influential women, such as American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, Mexican sociologist-activist Marta Sanchez Soler, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, and Rachida Dati, former French minister of justice, of Algerian-Moroccan descent.
The BBC annual list has recorded a strong presence of the women in several different fields. It also features Arab teachers and artists, including Egyptian biology professor Lubna Tahtamouni and cartoonist Doaa el-Adl, Jordanian music teacher Dalia Sabri, and Syrian actor, Carolina de Oliveira.
The 32-year old Riham El-Hour is the first female cartoonist in Morocco’s history. Her passion for cartoon started in her childhood when she devoted most of her time to sharpen her artistic skills.
In 2000, El-Hour won an award from UNESCO for a poster on “heritage protection.” This award was life changing for the cartoonist and led to her embarking on her profession career, working for newspapers.
100 Women is a BBC series established in 2013. The series examines the role of women in the twenty-first century and has included events in London and Mexico.—-IINA