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Noraida Adang Abdullah Karim received the first Social Justice and Social Change award from the faculty of the Social Justice and Social Change concentration at The Catholic University of America's National Catholic School of Social Service, May, 15, 2007 at a reception in Shahan Hall. Noraida, a licensed social worker from the Philippines, was honored for her contributions to social work with displaced populations.
Noraida, who was in the United States to receive the international “Voices of Courage” Award from the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children in New York, spoke to a gathering of faculty, students and staff about the political situation in the city of Cotabato where she was born and the work she does with Community and Family Services, International, a Philippines-based non-profit that describes itself as a “humanitarian organization committed to peace and social development, with a particular interest in the psychosocial dimension.” According to CFSI, its primary purpose is “rebuilding the lives of refugees, the internally displaced, disaster survivors, and others in exceptionally difficult circumstances.”
At present, Noraida is Mindanao Operations Coordinator and Coordinator of the Food Assistance Project that CFSI is running in conflict-affected communities in partnership with the World Food Programme. She told the gathering her current work is the result of her own experience as a young child who was repeatedly displaced due to armed conflict in Mindanao. She said she was determined to survive despite the hardships and grinding poverty. In 1988 when she finished high school, she left Mindanao for Manila where she hoped to find relief and safety. Instead of leaving the war and its aftermath behind, she ended up helping other displaced Muslims in Manila organize to get basic needs met and advocate for peace in the second largest of the 7,107 islands that comprise the country.

In 1996, a peace agreement in Mindanao made it possible for Noraida and others to return home. In a more peaceful environment, she began doing work with organizations interested in human rights, displaced persons and livelihood projects for poor women. It was during that time she completed a degree in social work at De La Vida College in Cotabato City. However, in 2000, war broke out again, displacing nearly a million people. In 2001, Noraida began working with CFSI as Community Organizing Officer helping displaced persons return to their communities. She led the Literacy, Livelihood and Food Sufficiency Project for women and male youth and the “Arms are for Hugging Project” that focused on helping over six hundred displaced children return to school in their own communities.
At the gathering, CSFI Board Member Sheila Platt, who nominated Noraida for the “Voices of Courage” award, spoke about Noraida's hard work, strength of character, courage, determination, and humility. Noraida says her next challenge is qualifying to participate in the ten-course Masters degree in Teaching of Social Work offered by The Catholic University of America in consortium with CFSI and the Bangsamoro Development Agency.