Expert Narratives

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.