Maliha Shirzay-Research Fellow, RWI Afghanistan Programme in 2024 is collaborating with other research fellows to support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett on Human Rights in Afghanistan. More specifically, in this episode dedicated tshe shares insights from her research on investigating the rights of Afghan women, particularly focusing on education and empowerment. Maliha delves into the marginalized position of ethnic groups, specifically the Uzbek women in Afghanistan,...

Hamid A. Formuli is a human rights practitioner, former career diplomat and a Research Fellow with RWI's Afghanistan program in 2024. His tenure at the Afghan foreign service spans over 8 years, boasting an impactful career across various roles, starting from a consular associate, law and treaties officer to special aide to the deputy foreign minister for economic cooperation. Hamid previously served as the Head of the Human Rights Section of the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the UN in...

Palwasha Mirbacha is a Research Fellow with RWI Afghanistan Programme in 2024. With over a decade of extensive experience, Palwasha Mirbacha has played a pivotal role in planning, designing, implementing, and monitoring education projects, collaborating with renowned international education institutions. As an expert in the field of education, she has successfully managed the execution of multi-sectoral, multi-million, and generational projects. Palwasha’s background encompasses the...

Humaira Rasuli is an Afghan human rights lawyer, women empowerment activist and the Co-Founder and Director of Women for Justice Organization in Afghanistan (WJO). She has been with RWI in 2024 as a Research Fellow with the Afghanistan Program. In 2018, Humaira Rasuli co-founded Woman for Justice Organization (WJO) to better safeguard women’s rights by strengthening the state’s institutional response and accountability to violence against women using legal ...

Mitra Tanomand, Research Fellow with RWI Afghanistan Programme is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Global Development with a focus on Education in the UK. Her project is focusing on researching human rights issues in Afghanistan, focusing on girls’ education and “Unveiling the post-2021 Realities within Women’s Protection Shelters in Afghanistan: Navigating Challenges Amidst Socio-Political Shifts”.

Kobra Moradi is Research Fellow with RWI's Afghanistan Programme and in this episode is sharing insights from her research on Afghan communities access to information regarding the International Criminal Court investigation on the human rights violations in Afghanistan. Kobra Moradi is a lawyer with a focus on human rights and international law. She has previously worked on international criminal accountability at the Australian Centre for International Justice, Afghanistan Human Rights and...

Haroun Rahimi is an affiliate associate professor at UW School of Law. Concurrently, Rahimi is an Associate Professor of Law and the chair of the Law Department at the American University of Afghanistan. Rahimi is also a Global Academy Scholar at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and a Research Fellow at The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI). Rahimi's research focuses on economic laws, institutional reform, Islamic finance, Islamic law, and ethics.

Anna Bruce, Senior Researcher at RWI, shares insights from her participation in the review of Sweden by the CRPD Committee and her work on Sweden's current implementation of the CRPD. -Work in progress version of book chapter in Swedish: Bruce, A, Funktionsrättskonventionen: Fördragskonform tolkning i norm(dis)harmoni, Lind, A-S, Thorburn Stern, R. & Österdahl, I. (red.) (2024). Folkrätten i svensk rätt. Ett nytt decennium. Lund: Studentlitteratur :...

Ehsan Qaane was a Research Fellow for the Afghanistan Programme in 2023. Prior to this, he worked with Afghanistan Analysts Network, a policy researcher organisation, as a political and legal affairs researcher (2012-2022) and as the country director (2017-2020). He is a member of and adviser to several human rights networks in Afghanistan, including the Afghanistan Forensics Science Organisation (AFSO) and Transitional Justice Coordination Group (TJCG). He has published a vast amount of...

David Cingranelli is a Professor of Political Science at Binghamton University of the State University of New York. He also is the Co-director of the Binghamton University Human Rights Institute. He has written widely on human rights, democracy, governance, and labor rights. He is a champion of the quantitative, scientific study of human rights. He is a former President of the Human Rights Section of the American Political Science Association. He, Skip Mark of the University of Rhode Island,...

Mr. Vishal Prasad is the Campaign Director of the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, a youth-led organization campaigning for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on climate change and human rights. He is from Suva, Fiji, and has studied international politics and law at the University of the South Pacific. He has been part of the ICJ advisory opinion movement since 2019 and is also part of the global ICJ advisory opinion movement under the World’s...

She is a Pakistani activist, entrepreneur, writer, and disability rights advocate, known for her efforts to promote inclusivity and equality for people with disabilities in Pakistan. Tanzila Khan has been actively involved in raising awareness about the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and working towards creating a more accessible and inclusive society. She has also gained recognition for her writing, using her platform to address social issues and advocate for positive...

Hanifa Girowal was a young female politician, and human rights advocate who served as Kabul’s deputy governor on socio-economic and development affairs, managing development and funding projects, mitigating conflicts, and providing essential services to Kabul residents. Previously, she worked with the Afghanistan Independent human rights commission (AIHRC), where she contributed to creating the independent human rights and gender units in Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces...

Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima is Leader of the Human Rights and the Environment thematic area and senior researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Her work unites legal analysis and sustainability science for examining environmental and human rights governance challenges and innovative levers to address them. She has bridged the human rights and biodiversity “communities of practice” through leading research such in the Biodiversa project on safeguarding...

Matthew Scott is senior researcher and leader of the Human Rights and the Environment thematic area at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. He is also adjunct senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at Lund University. His work focuses on integrating social science perspectives with international legal standards to promote context-sensitive, human rights-based law, policy and practice relating to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. His primary...

Hanifa Girowal, Research Fellow to the RWI Afghanistan Programme reflects on working with human rights at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission as well as serving as Deputy Governor on socioeconomic affairs in Kabul. Her research, which focuses on human rights violations in her country, along with her upcoming publications, provide context and nuance to our understanding of the fight for women´s rights in Afghanistan.

Mahmouda Sonia Eqbal is a Research Fellow at RWI Afghanistan Programme shares insights on her latest research report titled "Afghan constitutions and the placement of education." shedding light to women and girl´s education in Afghanistan.

In this podcast we talk with a human rights activist within the Women! Life! Freedom! movement about Narges Mohammadi and her lifelong work. She is the Iranian human rights activist that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 on Sunday 12 of September, for her lifelong work and activism on human rights and Women’s rights in Iran. Most of her adult life Narges has been politically active- from publishing a book of political essays and joining the Defenders of Human Rights Center to being...

Ms. Evelyn Adzovi Addor is a Climate Youth Negotiators Programme-trained Loss and Damage Negotiator for Ghana and the African Group of Negotiators. She is a development communications professional and the communications lead at EcoCare Ghana, a right-based natural resources and environmental advocacy non-governmental organisation in Ghana. Evelyn is passionate about designing campaigns to increase climate change awareness and influencing climate policy at the local, national and...

Neshan’s professional experience includes engagements with Government, non-government, bilateral and multilateral sectors and was a former member of the international civil service. Neshan Gunasekera has a background in international law, human rights, international relations, programme and project management and has worked to promote environmental considerations within the humanitarian-peace-development nexus. He has served as visiting faculty and examiner at several tertiary educational...

Mohammad Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor is an Afghan academic, Peace and Human Rights activist who has served as a lecturer at Kabul University, Sharia and Law faculties, where he completed his BA studies in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law in 1990. He is currently an Afghan Research Fellow at RWI. Mr. Ramizpoor is a council member of the Pugwash Conferences organization, the Afghanistan Human Rights Defenders’ Committee, and the Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism. He has been closely...

With firsthand professional experience both as a delegate at international forums representing her homeland and in the classroom, Prof. Romero brings a unique perspective to the Maritime Law and Policy Specialisation. She lectures on International Organisations and Maritime Conventions, the Law of the Sea, and the Protection of the Marine Environment and oversees these courses. In addition, she organises the annual Moot Court Competition, which focuses on current issues of the Law of the Sea,...

Alyn Ware is a peace educator and nuclear disarmament consultant from New Zealand. In 2009, he received the Right Livelihood Award for his vast efforts to promote peace education and disarmament. The Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” is an international award given annually to honor individuals, organizations, and movements that have made significant contributions to the promotion of social justice, sustainable development, and environmental protection.

Jules Han Amm is a PhD candidate at Uppsala University with most of their work focusing on the trans community and its internal disputes as well as legal frameworks of informed consent, self-determination, and trans healthcare access. Jules acquired a Bachelor’s in development studies and Master’s in Gender Studies from Lund University. In this episode, they talk with Zoi Savvidou about recent developments on trans rights, the pathologisation of the trans identity and the interconnectedness...