Malali Bashir is the senior editor for women’s programs at RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
Millions of women around the world have to fight for basic human rights. In places like Afghanistan, Iran, and the Balkans, the challenges women face vary, but they remain resilient. Under the Taliban’s rule, Afghan women are being erased from public life and denied basic freedoms.
Conflict and sectarian attacks have driven almost all of Afghanistan's Sikhs and Hindus from the country. Many have sought refuge in India where they have found safety but face economic hardship.
Receding foreign aid has directly impacted the lives of Afghans, many of whom are reeling from the devastating economic impact of the Taliban takeover.
Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. I'm Malali Bashir, senior editor for women’s programs at RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.
Through their art, eight Afghan women depict life under Taliban rule, leaving their homeland, and their aspirations for a better future.
Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan women’s rights activist, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Even as many activists fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, Siraj remained in Kabul to operate a network of women’s shelters.
A female Afghan-Canadian aid worker and comedian who disappeared in Kabul last month has been released from Taliban detention. Nadima Noor is the latest victim of an enforced disappearance in Afghanistan.
In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, Afghanistan's former national security adviser details the fall of the Western-backed government.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has proposed a new peace plan to U.S. officials and the Taliban that envisages a snap presidential election within six months or a year right after a peace deal is signed with the militant group, a senior Afghan government official told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan.
With no officially sanctioned women's league to play in, a 16-year-old in Kabul has set up her own cricket team to get on the pitch.
Afghan authorities have issued arrest warrants for two members of an armed mob that stormed a police station and killed a young Afghan couple. The two suspects are the brother and the husband of the woman, in the latest brutal example of so-called "honor" killings.
A young Afghan mother welcomes the death sentence handed down against her own father for years of sexual abuse.
Afghanistan's new first lady has taken a bold public stance on women's rights, signaling her intention to play an active role as presidential spouse. Born and raised in a Christian family in Lebanon, Rula Ghani made her remarks in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Malali Bashir.
!["The problem is not going to be solved if we don't sit down and talk [with the Taliban]," Mahbouba Serajshe, seen here in Kabul in April 2021, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "We must have a country in which we can all live in."](https://gdb.rferl.org/42fab024-d8af-4aef-ae7f-305332ef6fbe_cx0_cy10_cw0_w100_r1.jpg)
!["The problem is not going to be solved if we don't sit down and talk [with the Taliban]," Mahbouba Serajshe, seen here in Kabul in April 2021, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "We must have a country in which we can all live in."](https://gdb.rferl.org/42fab024-d8af-4aef-ae7f-305332ef6fbe_cx0_cy10_cw0_w66_r1.jpg)
