Nujeen Mustafa was born around 1999 in Kobani, Syria and raised there before moving with her family toAleppo, Syria. She was born with cerebral palsy and spent the majority of her life confined to a wheelchair in her family home. Although she was unable to go to school, she taught herself English by watching American soap operas. In 2014, she was fled to Turkey with her family and attracted significant attention as she fled 3,500 miles by wheelchair. While her parents remained in Turkey, she traveled with her sister to Germany, where she arrived as a refugee. Because of the attention her journey received, when she arrived in Germany, she was invited to attend a number of conferences. She became the first person with a disability to brief the United Nationals Security Council and was listed as one of BBC’s 100 Women in 2018. She was also announced as the winner of the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism, which cites her activism within the EU on the issue of disability and delivery of humanitarian aid. She has also co authored two books about her experience as a refugee fleeing from Syria.