Afghanistan

Born in 1964 in Kabul, Dr Alema has obtained a Ph.D. in Philosophy from a German university. An ardent women’s rights advocate, she founded and now heads the independent Women’s Political Participation Committee.

Wahid Ghassemi is a musician and folklore music scholar. He has worked as a singer and composer since 1977 and has conducted extensive research in native folklore music in different regions of the country since 2002.

Batul Moradi is a documentary filmmaker and writer. She came into the spotlight of human rights and civil society in Afghanistan by being the first woman to successfully challenge a baseless allegation of adultery made against her by her husband through the legal system.

Sayed-Askar Mousavi was born in 1956. He has spent much of his life in exile. He went to high school in Iran, lived in exile in India and Pakistan, and received a Master’s Degree and a doctorate from the University of Oxford, where he was a member of St Antony’s College.

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.