Background
Five years after the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, the country continues to face profound political, humanitarian, social, economic, and human rights challenges. While the scale of nationwide armed conflict has declined, sustainable peace requires more than the absence of war. It requires legitimate and inclusive institutions, the rule of law and accountability, respect for human rights, meaningful political participation including the full and equal participation of women, justice, social trust, and peaceful mechanisms for addressing political and societal differences.
Despite continued diplomatic engagement through various international mechanisms, meaningful progress toward a durable and inclusive political settlement remains elusive. One of the most consequential shortcomings of current efforts has been the systematic exclusion of Afghan women from public and political life, alongside insufficient attention to national healing and reconciliation as essential foundations for lasting peace.
Afghan women have been among the primary victims of Taliban’s gender persecution, and an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression amounting to gender apartheid. But they must not be viewed solely as beneficiaries of protection. They are political stakeholders and among Afghanistan's most resilient advocates for peace, justice, social cohesion, and an inclusive future. Despite severe restrictions, Afghan women continue to lead humanitarian and community initiatives, preserve social resilience, promote dialogue, and advocate for the rights and aspirations of the Afghan people.
Evidence and experience from peace processes around the world demonstrate that peace is more durable when women participate meaningfully. Afghan women must therefore be full, equal, meaningful participants in any future political process, rather than being confined to parallel or symbolic consultations.
Sustainable peace also requires national healing. Decades of conflict, displacement, political exclusion, atrocities, and competing historical grievances have deeply affected Afghanistan society. Rebuilding trust requires acknowledgment of victims and survivors experiences, justice and accountability, dialogue across communities, and meaningful participation by women, youth, civil society, and Afghanistan's diverse political, ethnic, religious, and other vulnerable communities.
The Afghanistan Policy Lab at Princeton University, Afghanistan Justice Archive, and End Gender Apartheid Campaign will convene this side event. The Afghanistan Policy Lab has identified Peace, National Healing, and Reconciliation as one of its core research pillars, while the End Gender Apartheid Campaign and Afghanistan Justice Archive work to document violations and advance concrete accountability pathways for Afghanistan—essential processes for justice, reconciliation, and national healing. Building on these complementary efforts, the event will examine practical pathways toward an inclusive, Afghan-owned political process that places women at its center and advances sustainable peace through justice, accountability, national healing, and reconciliation.
Objectives
The event aims to:
- Highlight the indispensable role of Afghan women as political stakeholders and leaders in advancing accountability and justice, building sustainable peace, national healing, and reconciliation.
- Examine what sustainable peace in Afghanistan requires beyond the absence of large-scale armed conflict, including legitimate and inclusive institutions, rule of law, rights, justice, participation, and social trust.
- Examine how transitional justice, accountability, acknowledgment of victims' and survivors experiences, national healing, and reconciliation can reinforce one another and contribute to long-term peace.
- Consider how women, youth, civil society, victims of conflict, and Afghanistan's diverse political, ethnic, and religious communities can participate meaningfully in shaping the country's future.
- Identify practical recommendations for the United Nations, Member States, regional actors, and international partners to support women-led peacebuilding and prepare the ground for an inclusive political process.
Panelists
is the President of Global Resilience a non-profit organization focused on providing protection support to communities affected by conflict and environmental crisis, and an Adjunct Professor at the Carter School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and the University of Colorado Boulder. She has over two decades of experience in post-conflict peacebuilding, political transition, democracy and good governance in Afghanistan. Dr. Sakhi served for three years at Freedom House, where she led efforts to promote the protection and safety of human rights defenders in Afghanistan, and previously held senior leadership roles at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director General and Senior Advisor for Peace and Security Affairs. She also taught at the Political Department of American University of Afghanistan. She remained a fellow at the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Rumsfeld Foundation.
is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She most recently served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which she was nominated by President Obama in 2009. She coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women, traveling to nearly sixty countries, and helped develop the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. Ambassador Verveer formerly served as the Special Representative on Gender Issues for the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and is the co-founder of Vital Voices Global Partnership.
is a gender equity and human rights activist and practitioner with a decade of experience in international development, peace, and gender equality. Hailing from Afghanistan, she has earned recognition as a finalist for the prestigious 2021 European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, marking her as a prominent figure in the global pursuit of human rights.
Throughout her career, Metra has played a pivotal role in providing strategic counsel, leading impactful programs, and conducting influential research for renowned organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, UK Department for International Development, NYU, and USAID. Her dedication to advancing the cause of gender equity and human rights is not only reflected in her professional achievements but also in her compelling advocacy at the United Nations and the European Parliament. Additionally, her impact resonates through insightful articles, comments, and speaking engagements in esteemed international outlets such as CNN, the New Yorker, New York Times, Al Jazeera, and BBC
is a peacebuilding and development practitioner
with over two decades of experience working with government, the United Nations, and international organizations in conflict-affected contexts, including Afghanistan and Syria. His work focuses on peace processes, governance, social cohesion, and the challenges of state-building in fragile environments.
He previously served in senior leadership roles with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), including Assistant Country Director for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in Afghanistan and Program Specialist for Social Cohesion and Peacebuilding in Syria. He has also held key positions in Afghanistan’s peace architecture, including Deputy CEO of the Executive Secretariat of the High Peace Council and Director of the Peace Agreement Implementation Secretariat.
More recently, Rahim has been working as Director of Research and Evaluation at Alternative Spectrum Consulting and as an evaluation consultant with UN Women, leading large-scale evaluations for the UN agencies and International NGOs in Afghanistan on humanitarian response, livelihood development, gender, and resilience strengthening.
He is currently a doctoral candidate in International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His research and publications examine elements of post-conflict institution building, conflict management, peacemaking, and peacebuilding in Afghanistan.
has more than a decade in the nonprofit and international development sector, including five years in executive leadership. She has led strategy, partnerships, fundraising, and organizational growth to expand opportunity for underserved communities. As Executive Director of Sahar Education, she has the privilege of leading an extraordinary team advancing educational opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan. She believes the world's most complex challenges require courageous leadership, meaningful collaboration, and resilient organizations built to create lasting impact.
is the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs and Co. Visiting Professor and Lecturer of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is the founding Director of the Policy Advocacy Clinic at Princeton University, a highly intensive clinical program that immerses students in the policy advocacy process, including before the United Nations, Congress, and state government. His research focuses on constitutional rights, criminal justice reform, and human rights law. He teaches courses on policing and civil rights, policy advocacy, and human rights advocacy, including a summer course in Geneva, Switzerland. He is an elected member of the Council on Criminal Justice. He is also Chair of the International Advisory Council of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
Ofer has more than 20 years of experience as a constitutional rights lawyer working on issues related to criminal justice reform, national security, free speech and racial justice. For two decades, Ofer worked as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where he helped to transform the organization, expanding its work into new issue areas and tactics. Ofer's work has led to passage of hundreds of laws and policies across the nation to reform the criminal justice system.
Sponsorship of an event does not constitute institutional endorsement of external speakers or views presented.