Hiljmnijeta Apuk

Hiljmnijeta Apuk was born in 1956 in the city of Mitrovica, Kosovo, in what was then Yugoslavia. Her family is Bosniak.^[1][2] Apuk was born with disproportionately low growth.^[1] Her parents were supportive of her efforts to gain independence, for example through helping to adapt her car so she would be able to reach the pedals, and she obtained a driver's license at age 18. This opened the door for her to pursue education, and she went on to study economics and law.^[3]

Apuk has been an activist for the rights of people with disabilities, particularly those with muscular dystrophy and dwarfism, since the 1980s.^[4][5] She is the founding director of the non-governmental organization Little People of Kosovo.^[4][5][6] The organization was founded after the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, inspired by the U.S. organization Little People of America.^[3]

Through the organization and other volunteer work, she fights for employment opportunities for people with disabilities.^[4][5] She is also active in campaigning for women and girls with disabilities, who face an intersection of discrimination.^[3]

Apuk served as a member of the United Nations General Assembly's ad hoc committee on drafting the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.^[1][5] She is also an artist, whose work aims to center what she calls the "authentic culture" of people with disabilities.^[4][7]

In 2013, she received the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for her activist work.^[1][4]