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University of Alberta

Sima Samar (Monday)

Sima Samar is the Chairwoman of the Independent Afghanistan Human Rights Commission, the first human rights commission in Afghanistan’s history. In this position, Dr. Samar oversees the conduct of human rights education programs across the country, implementation of a nationwide women’s rights education program, and monitoring and investigation of human rights abuses across the country.

From December 2001 until June 2002, Dr. Sima Samar served as the Deputy Chair and Minister of Women’s Affairs for the Interim Administration of Afghanistan. Dr. Samar was one of only two women cabinet ministers in the Interim Administration and was elected as the vice-chair of the Loya Jirga Assembly. During the Interim Administration, Dr. Samar established the first-ever Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Under her leadership, buildings for the Ministry were secured and rehabilitated and the Ministry began advocacy, training, and service programs to help restore the rights of women and to improve their economic, political, legal, and social status.

Dr. Samar returned to Afghanistan to assume this cabinet post after 17 years in exile in Pakistan, where she founded and directs the Shuhada Organization in Quetta. The Shuhada Organization runs health, education, and income generation projects for women and girls in Afghanistan and those living as refugees in Pakistan. The Shuhada Organization is the oldest Afghan NGO working in the region, and the largest Afghan woman-led organization. Due to her courageous and untiring work for the cause of human rights in the national and international arena, in 2005 she was appointed as the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan.

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