Armanshahr Campaigns

At just 32 years of age, Farkhunda Zahra Naderi is a Member of the Afghan Parliament, elected to represent Kabul.

Seddiq Barmak fell in love with the world of cinema when he saw his first film, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, at Kabul theatre at a tender 5 years of age. His film, ‘Osama’, was the first movie filmed in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and won the Golden Globe award in 2004.

On the eve of International Women’s Day and less than one month before presidential elections, FIDH and its member organisation in Afghanistan, Armanshahr/OPEN ASIA urge the national authorities to ensure full and direct participation of women in a free and fair election process and call on the presidential candidates to make the promotion and safeguard of women’s rights and their legal protection their priority.

Najiba Ayubi is a journalist and activist for human rights and freedom of the press. She is the Director of the Killid Group, a non-profit Afghan media network encompassing press, radio, and online outlets with a national reach. Ayubi left Afghanistan with her family when the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996.

Ahmad Shah Behzad is a Member of Parliament from Herat province. He was forced to migrate to Iran during the war and stayed there until the fall of the Taliban. Upon his return to Afghanistan with his family, he started working as a journalist for Radio Azadi.

Roya Sadat was one of the first female filmmakers to emerge after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. She studied law and political science at Herat University but her real passion was in film.

Abdullah Ahmadi is a human rights activist. He is the Program Director of the Cooperation Centre for Afghanistan, a human rights and conflict resolution organization where he has worked for the past 10 years.

Shakila Ibrahimkhalil is an Afghan journalist. During the time of the Taliban, she was forced to withdraw from her journalism studies and get married. Four years later, she suffered the loss of her husband.

Dr Daud Shah Saba was the Governor of Herat from 2010 to 2013. He resigned in July 2013, citing rampant corruption and the failure of the central government to bring about promised reforms.

Khadija Ghaznawi was the only woman who presented as a candidate for the 2014 presidential elections. She was disqualified from running by the Independent Election Commission.