Nawaal Akram () is a Qatari

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, model, athlete and disability rights campaigner. She was diagnosed with

Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe type of muscular dystrophy predominantly affecting boys. The onset of muscle weakness typically begins around age four, with rapid progression. Initially, muscle loss occurs in the thighs and pe ...

at the age of six, and was forcefully removed from education against her wishes at the age of 10 by the school; she became a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

user at the age of 12. She has since founded Muscular Dystrophy Qatar to raise awareness of the condition, and was named one of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's '' 100 Women'' programme in 2017.

Career

Born in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

parents, Nawaal Akram is one of six children to Mohammed and Saima Akram. At the age of six, she was diagnosed with

, and began using a

by the age of 12 after falling and breaking her leg. Her condition led to Akram being bullied by other children, which was ignored by the teachers in her school. Akram was then removed from her school, as they did not want to take responsibility for a physically disabled child. Her parents threatened to sue the school but withdrew as it would have affected the education of her siblings who were studying there. Applications to other schools followed, but these were rejected on the basis of her condition or nationality. Special schools were contacted, but she was rejected from those as she did not have a mental disability. Akram eventually tried

homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

, but this was ineffective as it used part-time tutors. Because of the lack of access to education, she began to feel depressed. Akram started to work at Mada, a non-profit disability organisation in Qatar. While there, she learnt about how

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

can be used to promote ideas. She has since helped children with disabilities in Qatar and middle east get an education and performed stand-up comedy as a

with Stand Up Comedy Qatar (SUCQ), the country's first and only collective of stand-up comedians, that was started in November 2010. Akram also works a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

. Akram took up the

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

sport

Boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes w ...

, and expanded her social media presence including her Instagram nawaalakram &

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel "Nawaal akram". In 2016, she founded the organisation Muscular Dystrophy Qatar to raise awareness of the condition within the country. She was named one of

's '' 100 Women'' programme, signifying her as one of the most influential and inspiration women of the year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akram, Nawaal People from Doha Women comedians Qatari Muslims People with muscular dystrophy Qatari people of Pakistani descent Living people 1990s births Qatari people with disabilities 21st-century Qatari sportswomen