4.3 Afghan Women in the Lead

Rethinking Development Podcast

Palwasha Hassan is a women's rights and peace activist who has pioneered many critical initiatives for the promotion of women's rights and civil society in Afghanistan. She has over 20 years of experience working in development and on women's rights and empowerment issues, both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She is a founding member of several civil society groups, including the Afghan Women's Education Center, Afghan Women's Network and Roazana. In addition she is a two time elected chairperson of the Afghan NGO coordinating body -ACBAR- and a former advisor to Afghanistan's High Peace Council. She also served as the first Afghan woman to head an international NGO in Afghanistan, as Country Director for Rights & Democracy. She was recognized for her accomplishments as one of the 1,000 PeaceWomen nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

We speak about:

• her experiences as an Afghan refugee in Pakistan
• the role of diaspora groups as one of the stakeholders in development processes
• working on law reform in Afghanistan
• advocating for inclusive peace negotiations
• building a feminist movement
• challenging reductive stereotypes of Afghan women
• the hostility and lack of support by some 'expat' women
• being overburdened by activist work and fighting on various fronts
• the problematic ways some development policies are 'forced' on countries
• the need for more genuine international feminist solidarity - and much more!

She joins us from Kabul, Afghanistan.

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