Afghanistanuka 2024

Fereshta Abbasi is the Afghanistan Researcher in the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, focusing on research and documentation of ongoing abuses in Afghanistan. For the past 10 years she has documented human rights abuses in Afghanistan with different organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the All-Survivors Project.

William Byrd is a development economist who has been working extensively on Afghanistan since 2001. His academic background includes a doctorate in economics from Harvard University and a master’s degree in East Asian Regional Studies from the same institution. He had long experience at
the World Bank, where most of his work was on China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has lived in all of these countries and speaks Dari and Chinese. During 2002-2006, he was stationed in Kabul where he served as the World Bank’s country manager and then as economic adviser. William Byrd
currently is at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where he is a senior expert focusing on Afghanistan. He attends the Afghanistan Week in his personal capacity.

Ilaria Carrozza is a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo ( PRIO), where she focuses on understanding how China extends its influence abroad and challenges the existing world order. She covers topics such as China’s foreign policy; the normative, political and security impact of artificial
intelligence; great power competition; geopolitics; and the Digital Silk Road. Her broader interests include China’s engagement in Africa and Asia, the Belt and Road Initiative, South-South cooperation,
and international order. She has a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a MA in Chinese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). She is a regular commentator in both Norwegian and international media, including the BBC, The Guardian, and the South China Morning Post.

Elisabeth Eide is a journalist, traveller, and Professor Emerita at OsloMet. She has authored or coauthored a large number of books and research articles, several of them on Afghanistan. Since 2003 she has worked with journalists’ rights and freedom of expression in Afghanistan through Norwegian and Afghan PEN.

Fatima Gailani is a women’s rights activist and a political leader of Afghanistan. She holds a master’s degree from The Muslim College of London and a BA from Iran National University (renamed to Shahid Beheshty University). Early in her career she served as a spokesperson of the Afghan Freedom Fighters during the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. In the new government, she became a member of the highest political decision-making body called the Loya Jirga according to the country’s Constitution, and from there she was appointed as a Commissioner for drafting and getting the New Constitution ratified. Gailani previously served as the president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, and she was a senior negotiator at the 2020-21 Afghan peace talks held in Qatar.

Signe Gilen is serving as the Norwegian MFA’s Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security. She has covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1992 to 2010, both as a researcher and as a diplomat. She has been serving at the Norwegian Representative office to the Palestinian Authority, at the Embassy in New Delhi and as Deputy Head of Mission in Juba where she followed the revitalization of the peace agreement, followed by three years as DHOM at the embassy in Riyadh. She wrote her thesis in Anthropology on Gender imagery and nationalism in Palestine, an occupied land. She has worked on women inclusion and gender perspectives in peace and security related matters over the last twenty-four years as a diplomat.

Norunn Grande is a special advisor at Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue (NCPD), based in Lillehammer, Norway. She develops and provides training courses in conflict transformation and dialogue facilitation, in Norway and internationally, also in Afghanistan, in close cooperation with Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC).

Kristian Berg Harpviken is the Director at the Norwegian Nobel Institute. He has previously been research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Harpviken is a long-time student of Afghanistan and the surrounding region, a frequent media commentator, and lectures regularly to both scholarly and popular audiences. He is author of Social Networks and Migration in Wartime Afghanistan (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009), and (with Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh), A Rock Between Hard Places: Afghanistan as an Arena of Regional Insecurity (Hurst, 2016).

Mustafa Himmati is the Head of Knowledge Management at the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC), based in Oslo, with over a decade of experience in Afghanistan. His work at NAC has focused on project reviews, evaluations, and participatory research across various sectors. Notably, in the education sector, he contributed to key review projects, including the Afghanistan Education Joint-Sector Reviews and the Vulnerability to Corruption Assessment of the Ministry of Education between 2016 and 2019. Mustafa holds dual master’s degrees: one in Inclusive Education from the University of Bristol, UK, and another in Inclusion and Diversity in Education from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, Indonesia.

Hazrat Khan Hoshmand is a committed human rights defender with extensive experience in grassroots activism and leadership within the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN). After the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Hazrat was forced to flee Afghanistan and now resides in Sweden with his family. In exile, he helped rebuild CSHRN and co-founded the Human Rights Defender Plus (HRD+) network in 2022. Additionally, Hazrat serves as a verification officer for the Afghanistan program of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), where he supports human rights defenders at risk and advocates for the protection of Afghan citizens’ rights and dignity.

Rayhana Karim is an accomplished humanitarian and development expert, with a deep specialization in women’s protection, reintegration, and advocacy in Afghanistan. Her career began in London’s legal sector before she transitioned to entrepreneurship, successfully founding and managing businesses in the hospitality industry. As the CEO of The Khadijah Project, Ms. Karim leads initiatives that provide critical support to women-led and daughter-majority families, incarcerated women, women human rights defenders, and advocates for private sector integration of women. Ms. Karim serves on the board of the Afghanistan Microfinance Association and is a former strategic advisor to the Afghan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI), reflecting her ongoing commitment to women’s economic empowerment.

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Liv Kjølseth is a Political Scientist, with a postgraduate degree from the University of Oslo, with a specialization in International Relations. For the last decade she has held the position of Secretary General of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC). Prior to joining NAC, she was Information and Advocacy Adviser for the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurdish People. She has previously worked for the Norwegian Directorate for Immigration (UDI).

Madina Mahboobi is the Founder and Executive Director of Vision Development Organization. A distinguished Afghan humanitarian and development practitioner with a profound commitment to human rights. With a background in entrepreneurship, Ms. Mahboobi brings a unique blend of professional acumen and passionate leadership to VDO. Her dedication to women’s empowerment and human rights has earned her recognition on both national and international platforms. As the leader of the Change Drive Network, Ms. Mahboobi oversees a vast coalition of over 17,000 members, 74+ local organizations, and 11 international entities across Afghanistan.

Assem Mayar is a dedicated professional with a focus on climate change and its economic consequences on Afghanistan. With a strong foundation in both technical and policy-level knowledge, Dr. Mayar brings a comprehensive perspective to discussions on environmental and economic challenges. Passionate about sustainability and development, Assem actively engages in sharing insights on the intersection of climate policy and economic resilience, making them a valuable voice in conferences and expert panels.

Karim Merchant is currently a freelance consultant on policy, programme and project development and management in the fields of rural development, humanitarian assistance, conflict-sensitive development and peacebuilding. Over the last 27 years, Karim has worked in Afghanistan with local civil society organizations, INGOs, UN Agencies, donors and the several previous Afghan governments. He lectures on Fragile and Conflict Affected States and Peacebuilding and continues to support policy and programme design initiatives for Afghanistan.

Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik is State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik is former department director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ legal department, ambassador at Norway’s UN delegation in New York, lawyer at the UN’s International Criminal Court in Cambodia, advisor in the Security Policy Department in the Ministry of Defense and deputy judge in the Drammen District Court.

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Payvand Seyedali is the Country Director of Women for Women International, Afghanistan, an international NGO that supports women survivors of war to rebuild their lives. She is the Founder of The Khadijah Project, a grassroots initiative that supports protection, reintegration, and advocacy and coordination efforts of women in Afghanistan. Formerly, Payvand was Senior Advisor to UN Women in Afghanistan, Senior Education Advisor to the Swedish Committee in Afghanistan, and, for the British government, led the largest gender fund in Afghanistan. In 2018, she won the NATO Leaders’ Award for Transformative Leadership. She has lived in Afghanistan for 13 years.

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Hasina Shirzad is an Afghan journalist, writer, and human rights activist now based in Norway. She holds a master’s degree from Oslo Metropolitan University and is currently engaged in program and human rights defender (HRD) work at the Norwegian Human Rights Fund (NHRF). In this role, Shirzad supports grassroots human rights initiatives, focusing particularly on the protection and empowerment of women and other human rights defenders in vulnerable and marginalized communities. Her activism is deeply rooted in advocating for freedom of speech, women’s rights, and the protection of human rights defenders, both in conflict zones and in exile. Through her work, she highlights the unique struggles faced by women and human rights defenders under oppressive regimes, aiming to bring global attention to their resilience and courage.

Graeme Smith is a Senior Analyst for the International Crisis Group. He has been working in Afghanistan since 2005 for organizations such as the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF). From 2015 to 2018, he served as a Political Affairs Officer for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, with responsibility for domestic politics. He previously worked as the Crisis Group country director in Afghanistan (2012-2015). His career as a journalist included a decade as a staff reporter for The Globe and Mail, which posted him in Moscow (2005), Kandahar (2006-2009), Delhi (2010) and Istanbul (2011).

Arne Strand is a Senior researcher with the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) holding a PhD in Postwar Recovery Studies. His research focuses on aid coordination, forced migration and reintegration, peace building and humanitarian and development assistance. Strand has been team leader of several evaluations and research programmes in and on Afghanistan.

Khalid Qadery is a writer and a journalist who has worked for several media in Afghanistan. He was imprisoned for one year by the Taliban, and is currently writing a book about his experiences. From his exile in France he works for the Ravi Zan news channel.

Terje Magnussønn Watterdal is an economist, and an education and disability rights activist. He is currently based in Kabul as the Country Director for the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC). He has previously worked as education advisor for governments in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and senior expert for different UN agencies in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Asia. He holds postgraduate degrees from University of Mannheim, Germany and University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Torunn Wimpelmann is a Research Director at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI). Torunn completed her PhD on gender violence in Afghanistan (SOAS). Her main field of research is gender politics and legal reform in Afghanistan, where she has done several years of fieldwork. She is the author of The Pitfalls of Protection: Gender, Violence and Power in Afghanistan (University of California Press, 2017).