Rabia Khedr Receives a Daniel G. Hill Award from the Ontario Human Rights Commission

Written by Ontario Human Rights Commission

Published in News

People across Ontario are making important contributions to advance human rights and equity, many of which go unacknowledged.

Each of our collective successes have started with a single step, by someone who had an idea for how to make Ontario a better place to live. And each collective success in the future will also rely on individual vision, advocacy and imagination.

[On June 15, 2022], on the 60th anniversary of the enactment of Ontario’s Human Rights Code, in a YouTube premiere, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) presented the first-ever Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Awards, and honoured four recipients who have each made significant contributions to advance human rights in Ontario and beyond.

The Daniel G. Hill Awards help to showcase how the work of people across Ontario is forever altering the human rights landscape in a positive way. The awards are named after Daniel G. Hill, who was the first director and first Black chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC). Dr. Hill was one of the earliest human rights visionaries, who set a solid legacy that we have all worked to follow and that still resonates today.

The Distinguished Service award was presented to Rabia Khedr, who has worked for over 30 years to advance disability rights. She consistently breaks barriers and changes perceptions with her vast knowledge and experience, and is a tireless community organizer who continues to reimagine ways one person can be the start of something big in advancing human rights.

Rabia Khedr has worked for over 30 years to advance disability rights, through her own experience and bringing forward the voices of marginalized people, people of colour, women, and people with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities. Her accomplishments range from serving as a former Commissioner at the OHRC, to serving on national disability advisory groups, to co-chairing the Canadian Muslim COVID-19 Task Force.

She co-founded the Race and Disability Canada network to advocate for racialized individuals with disabilities, established DEEN Support Services to ensure culturally and spiritually relevant services for individuals with disabilities, and is currently the National Director of Disability Without Poverty, an organization that is working to ensure people with disabilities have the supports necessary to avoid poverty and to take part in every aspect of society.

Rabia consistently breaks barriers and changes perceptions with her vast knowledge and experience working with people with disabilities, racialized women, seniors, youth, and diverse communities. She is a tireless community organizer who advocates for disability justice causes at all political levels.

Rabia has served with distinction, and continues to reimagine ways one person can be the start of something big in advancing human rights.