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Expert Narratives

Sediqa Balkhi: “He said I would die if I went to school again”

Sediqa Balkhi has served two-terms as a Senator on the Meshrano Jirga [Senate]. She was elected Chair of the Women’s Affairs Committee in the last Senate and is currently Chair of the Civil Society and Human Rights Committee.

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Hussain Fakhri: “The acts we see as ‘violations’, they see as exercising their rights”

Lieutenant General Sayed Ghulam Hussain Fakhri is the Director-General of the High Office of Anti-Corruption. He joined the Police Academy immediately after graduating from high school and later became a Professor of the Academy.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Fawzia Koofi: “I am afraid to see the world and its progress from behind a chador again”

Fawzia Koofi grew up in a traditional polygamist family with seven wives. Her mother tried to abandon her for being born a girl. Her father was a Member of Parliament for 25 years and was assassinated by the Mujahideen when she was just 4 years old.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Malek Setiz: “We must move with the times”

Mr Malek Setiz is an international relations adviser to the Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan. He sought refuge in Denmark after the civil wars and has been living there for the past 20 years and working for the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

Monday 31 March 2014

Malika Suraya Afghanyar: “We want to work, to think, to walk, to be present, to speak”

Malika Suraya Afghanyar is a filmmaker. She is studying film directing and writing at the Fine Arts Department of Kabul University.

Friday 28 March 2014

Awtar Singh Khalsa: “They gave the Hindus and Sikhs a place for rubbish disposal as a place to live”

Awtar Singh Khalsa is the President of the National Committee of Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan and the head of Kabul’s Committee for Hindu worship centres. Singh served as the Sikh representative to the Loya Jirga, and was appointed as a senator in 2004.

Thursday 27 March 2014

Hengama Anwari: “10 years is only a drop in the ocean that is the process of changing a society”

Hengama Anwari is a Commissioner on the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the founder of the Women and Children’s Legal Research Foundation.

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Mujib Mehrdad: “My sisters are no different to my brothers”

Mujib Mehrdad is a Professor at Al-Biruni University, a writer, and a poet. He is the director of Porsesh [Question] magazine.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Horia Mosadiq: “He said he would kill me if he ever saw me going to school again”

Horia Mosadiq is the Amnesty International researcher on Afghanistan. She was a child growing up in Herat province when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Soon after the fall of Dr Najibullah’s government, she was forced to leave Afghanistan.

Monday 24 March 2014

Abdul Hafiz Mansoor: “I assure you the Taliban will never return”

Abdul Hafiz Mansoor has been a Member of Parliament for several years. He fought against the Soviets when he was 16 & later, against the Taliban. He obtained a MA in political science, writing his dissertation on the obstacles to development in Afghanistan.

Friday 21 March 2014