SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Overview

Violence, Peace and Development Research Cluster

Research Cluster Member

Name:

Ms Orzala Ashraf Nemat

Email address:

260569@soas.ac.uk

Thesis title:

The changing nature of local power dynamics and governance at the community level in Afghanistan

Year of Study:

Year of Entry 2010

Internal Supervisors

• Jonathan Goodhand

Biography

Orzala Ashraf Nemat is an emerging scholar and a prominent civil society and women’s rights activist working to empower local communities in Afghanistan. In 2010, she founded the Youth & Women's Leadership Centre. Previously, as the founder and chair of a leading Afghan NGO, Humanitarian Assistance to the Women and Children of Afghanistan, Ashraf Nemat devoted ten years to establishing and delivering training programs to Afghan women and children in refugee communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the field of education, legal protection and emergency assistance. Orzala is known for her position to introduce Afghan people and especially women not as helpless victims but rather as agents for change if they’re given the opportunities to represent the voices of marginalized. Under the Taliban regime, she launched underground literacy and health education programs for women and girls. She completed her Masters Degree in Development Studies from UCL and was selected for Yale World Fellows in 2008. Orzala also participated in various number of executive education and leadership programs such as Global Leadership & Public Policy for the 21st Century (March21-31st 2010), KSG, Harvard University and Young Global Leaders, Women and Security: Women’s role in the security sector reforms. She is increasingly involved in political advocacy and development at the national level and also served on the board of directors of the Afghan Women’s Network and other human rights networks in Afghanistan. She is currently focusing on her Phd aiming to present an Afghan perspective to local governance in Afghanistan, while she also keeps carrying personal initiatives of building schools and providing emergency assistance to Afghans in need.

PhD Affiliations

Chr. Mitchelson Institute Norway
Youth and Women’s Leadership Centre (YWLC)
Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA) – Founder and served as director 1999-2007