Unveiling Afghanistan

Over 50 days, just two months before Afghanistan elects a new President, 50 interviews with influential social, political, and cultural actors are published in the Huffington Post and in the major Afghan daily newspaper, 8 Sobh (in Dari). A campaign by Armanshahr/OPEN ASIA and FIDH

The Unheard Voices of Progress

Humaira Qaderi : "When are you going to burn yourself?"
Dr Humaira Qaderi is a writer and women’s rights activist. She was a teenager during the years of the Taliban, when girls were forbidden from going to school and libraries were closed. Qaderi read whatever she could find and attended underground women’s writing classes, at great risk to her family and herself. Today, alongside her writing and activism, Qaderi is a university professor and senior adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

See all the portraits of the campaign.

Kaweh Jobran : "Allow me not to wish for my daughter"
Kaweh Jobran is a professor in literature in the State University in Kapisa province and works as a journalist with national and international media based from Kabul. A published poet and essayist, he is an active blogger and influential young thinker.

Maria Bashir: "He threw my documents back in my face, and shouted: ’Go and stay at home!’"
Maria Bashir is the Chief Prosecutor General of Herat province. She was the first woman to be appointed Chief Prosecutor in Afghanistan, and is the only woman serving as Chief Prosecutor in any of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. During the Taliban’s rule, when women were forbidden from working or going to school, she ran an underground school from her home, wanting women to be prepared to rejoin the workforce if ever the Taliban should fall. In 2011, she was awarded the US Department of State’s International Women of Courage Award and listed in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.

Rahnavard Zaryab: ’We Are Not Free to Think Here’
Rahnavard Zaryab is an influential Afghan writer and scholar. He was imprisoned during the Taraki era in 1978/79. His work has brought him into extensive contact with democratic countries. He advocates for democracy and ideological freedom in Afghanistan. He obtained an M.A in Journalism in Great Britain and lived in exile in France during the time of the Taliban. He has worked as editor-in-chief of several newspapers and headed the Union of Writer in the late 1980’s.

IN COLLABORATION WITH...

Armanshahr / OPEN ASIA

Armanshahr Foundation is an independent non-profit citizens’ organisation that is not affiliated to any economic, political, religious, and ethnic groups or any government. We strive to create the proper channels to fulfil social and popular demands for democracy, human rights, justice and rule of law as well as to take cultural initiatives and publish books to help shape the collective consciousness of the citizens. Armanshahr Foundation also aims to achieve solidarity, progress and peace through exchanges of ideas and dialogue at the heart of Asia. - See more at: http://openasia.org/en/?page_id=636#sthash.Ell4WmJO.dpuf

Armanshahr Foundation is an independent non-profit citizens’ organisation that strives to create the proper channels to fulfil social and popular demands for democracy, human rights, justice and rule of law.

Armanshahr Foundation is an independent non-profit citizens’ organisation that is not affiliated to any economic, political, religious, and ethnic groups or any government. We strive to create the proper channels to fulfil social and popular demands for democracy, human rights, justice and rule of law as well as to take cultural initiatives and publish books to help shape the collective consciousness of the citizens. Armanshahr Foundation also aims to achieve solidarity, progress and peace through exchanges of ideas and dialogue at the heart of Asia. - See more at: http://openasia.org/en/?page_id=636#sthash.Ell4WmJO.dpuf

International Women’s Film Festival – Herat
The second International Women’s Film Festival – Herat will take place in May 2014 in Herat, Afghanistan. The organizers, Armanshahr Foundation and Roya Film House, have received hundreds of films from all over the world, after a successful inaugural edition of the festival in March last year. The selection comittee is currently reviewing the films.

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FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights

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Tél : (33-1) 43 55 25 18 / Fax : (33-1) 43 55 18 80