TABAN SHORESH OBE
Founder & CEO, The Lotus Flower
Genocide survivor. Changemaker.
Taban Shoresh is a former child genocide survivor who founded The Lotus Flower in 2016 to support women and girls affected by conflict and displacement in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Drawing on her own lived experience of fleeing war, Taban has built an organisation rooted in community, compassion, and the belief that every woman and girl deserves safety, dignity, and the chance to rebuild their life.
115,000 +
Women & Girls Supported
2016
Founded The Lotus Flower
100+
Local Staff employed
Taban's Story
Taban was born in Kurdistan in the 1980s, during Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. With a father who was a political activist and member of the Peshmerga, her family were marked for persecution. When Taban was just four years old, the Iraqi Intelligence Service arrived at her home and arrested her mother and paternal grandparents. Taban was imprisoned alongside her family and thousands of other Iraqi Kurds.
In 1986, her family narrowly escaped a mass live burial. After three months in hiding and twelve months of fleeing, dodging bombs and bullets, they finally reached Iran. In 1987, Amnesty International flew the family to safety in the UK, where Taban grew up as a refugee.
Surviving Genocide
Taban built a life in London, working in an investment firm. But in April 2014, everything changed. As ISIS waged another genocide in her homeland, Taban knew she couldn't sit on the sidelines. She gave up her career and returned to Kurdistan as an aid worker, spending 15 months distributing aid to displaced Yazidi families and supporting humanitarian relief efforts.
When she returned to the UK in 2015, Taban couldn't shake what she'd witnessed. At 32 years old, she'd now lived through two genocides in Kurdistan. She knew she had to do something more.
Returning to Kurdistan
In March 2016, Taban founded The Lotus Flower. Starting with educational classes in refugee camps, the charity has since grown to support over 110,000 women and girls through centres across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Lotus Flower offers skills training, mental health support, education, and opportunities for women to rebuild their lives with dignity.
Under Taban's leadership, the organisation has pioneered a localisation model with over 100 local staff delivering community-designed programmes. Our approach is centred on lived experience, with programmes co-created by the women we serve and delivered by those who understand displacement first-hand.
Founding The Lotus Flower
Organisational Strengthening - Building capacity for local civil society organisations across the region
Recognition
Taban's work has been recognised internationally, but what drives her isn't the accolades - it's the women and girls whose lives are changed. Still, these honours help shine a light on the issues facing displaced communities and the power of locally-led change.
Awards & Honours
Regional Winner - Middle East & North Africa
One of the most prestigious honours in the humanitarian field, recognising those who go beyond the call of duty to protect refugees, displaced and stateless people.
2025 - UNHCR Nansen Award
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Awarded in the New Year Honours for outstanding services to refugees and displaced conflict survivors in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
2024 - OBE
2024 - GQ Magazine Hero
Recognised for extraordinary humanitarian work and leadership.
2023 - WeAreTheCity Trailblazer50
Honoured as a trailblazer for women in leadership and social impact.
2016 - Hearst Bravery Award
Recognised for courage and commitment to helping women and girls affected by conflict.
2016 - Red Magazine Woman of the Year Awards
Finalist, recognised for supporting Yazidi women and refugees
One Young World Ambassador
Speaking at global summits alongside leaders including Sir Bob Geldof and the late Kofi Annan
Sharing Her Story
Taban is a powerful and authentic speaker who shares her lived experience of displacement, genocide survival, and building hope in the darkest circumstances. She's spoken on stages around the world - not because she seeks recognition, but because these platforms amplify the voices of women who are too often unheard.
Taban has recorded TEDx talks in both Paris and Kurdistan, and has featured extensively across media including the Guardian, BBC News, Sky News, CNN, Telegraph, Independent, Al Jazeera, LBC, and more. She's a regular speaker at humanitarian forums, universities, corporate events, and community gatherings.
Speaking & Advocacy
Amplifying Local Voices on Global Platforms
Beyond her speaking work, Taban plays a key role in ensuring that local realities from conflict zones inform global policy and decision-making. As spokesperson for the Action Network on Forced Displacement, and through her roles with the ICVA MENA Women Leadership Network, Girls Not Brides, and One Young World, she bridges the gap between grassroots experience and international action.
In 2024, she delivered the keynote closing speech at the UNHCR Global Consultations on Gender and regularly advises international actors on emerging issues such as Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence. She led advocacy on the intersection of AI and GBV, hosting "The War on Women: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence and the Dangers of AI" at UN Women HQ during the UN General Assembly. This work contributed to a formal submission to the White House and inclusion in discussions linked to the forthcoming UN Convention Against Cyber Crime.
Surviving genocide and displacement - Personal testimony of surviving the Anfal genocide, imprisonment at age four, and rebuilding life as a refugee
What Taban Speaks About
Women's empowerment in conflict zones -Why women and girls need targeted support, and what real empowerment looks like on the ground
Locally-led humanitarian response - Why local leadership matters, and how The Lotus Flower's model of 100+ local staff creates sustainable change
From survivor to founder -The journey from escaping genocide to building an organisation that supports over 110,000 women and girls
Gender-based violence and women's rights -Understanding GBV in conflict settings and creating community-led solutions
Why People Invite Taban to Speak
She lived it - Taban doesn't speak about displacement from theory or research - she survived it as a child and witnessed it as an adult aid worker.
She built it - Nearly a decade of running programmes on the ground means Taban shares real lessons, real challenges, and real solutions.
She tells it like it is - No jargon, just honest, powerful storytelling that connects with audiences and moves them to action.
She offers hope - Even when discussing the hardest topics, Taban shows that change is possible - because she's lived proof of it.
Invite Taban to Speak
We'd love to hear from you if you're interested in having Taban speak at your event, conference, university, or organisation.