Shaharzad Akbar: Leader and Visionary for Human Rights in Afghanistan

Shaharzad Akbar may not appear as someone you’d expect to be leading the charge in one of the world’s harshest environments. But don't let Akbar's quiet demeanor fool you without first hearing her incredible story. Indeed, as chairperson at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, fighting for human rights is exactly what Akbar does everyday. Specifically, she fights on behalf of her fellow Afghan citizens' access to the full range of human rights. Her responsibility includes dissecting, criticizing, and reforming a broken system which has rendered human rights as more of a privilege than a precedent.

Born in Jowzjan, Afghanistan in 1987, Akbar’s upbringing is tragically common for those living in the region during this period. Fleeing the violence and conflict that constantly surrounded them, Akbar and her family moved all around Afghanistan, eventually settling in Pakistan for a time after the Taliban took control. As Akbar described this time, there was an underlying sense, even at her young age, of her homeland being disconnected from the rest of the world; and of its people, its history, and its culture on the verge of being forgotten.

During her family’s migration across Afghanistan, Shaharzad was able to see firsthand many of the different landscapes, lifestyles, and cultures that make up the rich tapestry that is Afghanistan. From the city apartment where she grew up, to the small farming village she and her family passed through on their travels, Shaharzad absorbed these images and the people that filled them, and the dreamy vision of a more peaceful, equal Afghanistan began to materialize in her mind.

In contrast to that, Shaharzad's time spent studying abroad in The United States was among the more eye-opening experiences as to how the rest of the world operated. While attending college in Massachusetts, Shaharzad saw firsthand the stark difference between the concerns of the world’s most privileged peoples as compared to her compatriots back home. Whereas many of her American peers were concerned about an upcoming exam, Akbar knew that the common daily concern of many of her friends and family back home was literally that of survival - of actual life and death. She had finally seen the full spectrum of human rights for herself.

Though the weight of her responsibility is great, Akbar is somehow able to keep calm in her dealings with human rights violations on a daily basis. Even with the threat of backlash ideological opposition, and the daily atrocities that appear on her desk, Akbar remains resilient in her responsibility, and confident in her vision of what she knows Afghanistan can become. Akbar believes that improving human rights in Afghanistan begins with stopping the violence, and reevaluating the systems in place and the harmful aspects of society that those systems have perpetuated. How can you improve peoples’ lives if the systems and structures in place are directly preventing that?

In this episode of Stories of Transformation, we discuss the importance of understanding context in different human rights projects around the world; finding the strength to keep going even in the face of daily adversity; what literature, art, and storytelling can teach us about our shared human experiences; and what it means and what it takes to be a leader of a human rights initiative.

For full show notes
https://www.baktashahadi.com/podcast

Connect with Shaharzad Akbar
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShaharzadAkbar?s=20
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaharzad-akbar-77981895/

Resources
Learn more about Shaharzad Akbar: https://www.weforum.org/people/shaharzad-akbar

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Credits

Produced by: Joseph Gangemi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-gangemi-audio/

Digital Marketing & Media by: Katherine An
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-a-91081b56/

Theme music by: Qais Essar
www.therabab.com

Artwork by: Masheed Ahadi
https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/masheed

Episode Music Credits
"Flight of the Inner Bird" by Sivan Talmor, Yehezkel Raz
"Be Still" by Doug Kaufman
"Neshama Yetera" by Itai Armon
"Desert Snake" by Onxy Music
"Abdo's Song (feat. Abdo Beko)" by Endure