Music by

Ahmad Ghulami

Sound by

Prince Havely

Welcome by

Dovie Holland, Executive Director US-Afghan Women’s Council

Opening Remarks

Gail Prensky, The Jüdische Kulturbund Project

Special Introduction by

Zareen Taj, Visiting Lecturer Global Studies Program, UMBC

Special Guest: Dr. Sima Samar

Dr. Sima Samar is a doctor for the poor, an educator of the marginalized, and a human rights defender from Afghanistan. She has established and nurtured the Shuhada Organization, which, in 2012, operated more than 100 schools. At the time, Shuhada also ran 15 clinics and hospitals dedicated to providing education and healthcare, particularly focusing on women and girls.

Samar served in the Interim Administration of Afghanistan and established the first-ever Ministry of Women’s Affairs. From 2004-2019, she chaired the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission that holds human rights violators accountable, a commitment that has put her own life at great risk.

In December 2019, Sima Samar was appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement. She is also a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation.

More about her book: Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan
By Sima Samar with Sally Armstrong

(Bio from Right Livelihood)