Naheed Sarabi is a visiting fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development housed within the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. She is also an independent consultant and a development practitioner with over ten years of experience in development policy and planning. Naheed previously served as the Deputy Minister for Policy at the Ministry of Finance in the government of the Republic of Afghanistan. She served as a board member of Open Society Afghanistan before the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021. After leaving government, Naheed served as Assistant Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Program in Kabul. She is also a commissioner at the International Commission for Inclusive Peace and at the Principles for Peace initiative. Naheed holds an M.A. in Development Management from Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, and a M.A. in Applied Economics from Western Michigan University, USA.
About Us
Rawadari is an Afghan human rights organisation that aims to deepen and grow the human rights culture of Afghanistan, ultimately reducing the suffering of all Afghans, especially women and girls.
Rawadari helps build an Afghan human rights movement, monitors human rights violations, and pursues justice and accountability for violations. Rawadari works with individuals and collectives inside and outside Afghanistan
What We Do
Human Rights Promotion
Rawadari's work aims to expand the human rights community of Afghanistan with new constituencies and allies inside and outside the country.
Rawadari's work aims to expand the human rights community of Afghanistan with new constituencies and allies inside and outside the country. We organize public discussions and debates on human rights issues bringing together diverse Afghan voices from a variety of backgrounds including artists, cultural activists, scholars and academics, educators and health practitioners.
We use a range of new and traditional mediums for outreach including visual material and social media campaigns. We conduct regular private consultations with actors in the civic space to better understand the landscape and mobilize for collaborative action for human rights of all Afghans.
Monitoring, Documentation & Reporting
Rawadari provides reliable and timely information on human rights violations in Afghanistan with a focus of violations of the rights of women and girls and marginalized groups.
Rawadari provides reliable and timely information on human rights violations in Afghanistan with a focus of violations of the rights of women and girls and marginalized groups.
We monitor and document human rights situation in Afghanistan through a network of data providers on the ground. We publish 4 human rights reports annually, in Dari, Pashto and English to increase awareness about the human rights situation, battle misinformation and inform policy and collective action.
Victim-centered justice and accountability
Rawadari aims to employ all viable mechanisms for judicial and non-judicial accountability to combat the entrenched culture of impunity for violations committed in Afghanistan.
Rawadari aims to employ all viable mechanisms for judicial and non-judicial accountability to combat the entrenched culture of impunity for violations committed in Afghanistan. Rawadari is providing support and information to the international investigation and monitoring mechanisms. We are advocating for expanding avenues to accountability for Afghans through utilizing the existing mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice as well as creating new accountability mechanisms through the UN.
Additionally, Rawadari utilizes victim-centred, non-judicial mechanisms to bring the voices of victims to the fore and enable broader recognition of the shared pain of Afghans.
How We Work
Provide regular and timely public information on human rights violations taking place in Afghanistan.
Deepen and grow support for human rights inside and outside Afghanistan by utilising a range of new and traditional mediums, including culture and arts.
Build and strengthen alliances to advance human rights in Afghanistan within the region and with other Muslim majority countries.
Advocate with international and regional actors to protect human rights in Afghanistan. Engage with international human rights mechanisms to advance human rights in Afghanistan.
Demand the deployment of all mechanisms for judicial and nonjudicial accountability to confront the entrenched culture of impunity for human rights violations committed in Afghanistan.
Contribute to global human rights discourse from the unique perspective of Afghanistan.
Our Principles
We take a victim and survivor-centred approach in all our work. We ensure confidentiality and privacy in our work, especially with regard to the information and stories shared with us.
We assess the possible impact and implications of our publications on victims, survivors, sources, and colleagues. Mindful of challenges, we publish with sensitivity.
We pro-actively strengthen our relationships with Afghans inside and outside Afghanistan. We reach out to find new allies and supporters and build collaborative partnerships.
We continuously question and assess the added value and impact of our work for victims, survivors, and our collectives. We are flexible and agile and will adapt to meet their needs.
Our Values
Impartiality
We are experts in universal human rights principles and values. We uphold this expertise in all our work. We ensure our work is protected from personal bias. Our approach is at all times guided by these universal principles and values.
Respect for diversity
We are aware of the many differences in Afghanistan, including of background, experience, and perspective. We accept, value, and respect our differences. We believe diversity is a value and a strength. We uphold diversity, and benefit from the diversity of our team and our views.
Inclusivity
We believe everyone should have equitable access to all resources, opportunities, and assets regardless of their ability, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, and/or political affiliation. We make every effort to unpack, understand, and include different layers of identity in our analysis.
Honesty
We believe honesty is essential to building collectives and for collective action. We understand honesty as sharing the truth of what we see and documenting without an agenda. We listen to victims and survivors with openness. We are honest in every stage of our work and with everyone we work with.
Trust
We strive to build trust and credibility amongst Afghans in the hopeful vision for Afghanistan we are co-creating and in Rawadari. We want Afghans to know that we are listening to all of them. We work every day to strengthen trust inside our own team and with our partners. We build trust by being impartial, inclusive, and honest.
Learning
We acknowledge we may make mistakes. As individuals and as an organisation, we are committed to continuous, ongoing learning. We recognise that we learn best through our interactions with people, especially Afghans whom we are here to serve. We want to learn from past experience, failures, losses, and constructive criticism.
Liberty
We believe everyone should be able to exercise their free will, without harming the life, liberty, or livelihoods of other individuals and communities. We believe everyone has the right to choose how to live their life, and we respect their liberty in doing so. We believe everyone should be able to live their lives free from fear, dogma, oppression, injustice, and poverty.
Equality and Equity
While recognising the difference and diversity of Afghans, we believe that everyone is equal before the law. We uphold equality and say No to discrimination in any form and upon any basis. We strive to provide an equitable response to the needs of our diverse Afghan society. We educate ourselves in the historical and continuing injustices faced by different groups and communities in Afghanistan. We integrate an intersectional understanding of the different needs of individuals and communities in our work and ensure our responses meet the different needs.
Board of Directors
Nahid Sarabi
Advisory Board Member
Naheed Sarabi is a visiting fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development housed within the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. She is also an independent consultant and a development practitioner with over ten years of experience in development policy and planning. Naheed previously served as the Deputy Minister for Policy at […]
Huma Saeed
Advisory Board Member
Huma Saeed, PhD is a criminologist with expertise in transitional justice. She is a Senior Transitional Justice Fellow at the City University of New York and an affiliated senior researcher at the Leuven Institute of Criminology, University of Leuven. A roster expert of the Justice Rapid Response, Huma has frequently engaged as senior consultant with […]
Huma Saeed, PhD is a criminologist with expertise in transitional justice. She is a Senior Transitional Justice Fellow at the City University of New York and an affiliated senior researcher at the Leuven Institute of Criminology, University of Leuven. A roster expert of the Justice Rapid Response, Huma has frequently engaged as senior consultant with the UN, the ICC and other international organizations. She has published extensively on victims’ rights, gender justice, economic-state crime, and transitional justice.
Rachel Reid
Chair of Advisory Board
Rachel Reid is a human rights expert, artist and activist, who writes regularly for the Afghanistan Analysts Network. She has led war crimes investigations, including for the Clooney Justice Foundation, as well as consulting for the UN, ICC, IDLO, the Malala Fund and Front Line Defenders. Rachel spent 8 years at the Open Society Foundation, […]
Rachel Reid is a human rights expert, artist and activist, who writes regularly for the Afghanistan Analysts Network. She has led war crimes investigations, including for the Clooney Justice Foundation, as well as consulting for the UN, ICC, IDLO, the Malala Fund and Front Line Defenders. Rachel spent 8 years at the Open Society Foundation, most recently as the regional advocacy director for the MENA region. She also spent three years based in Kabul with Human Rights Watch, having first moved to Afghanistan as a senior journalist for the BBC, where she worked for 13 years. Rachel has an M.A. in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, and a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University, UK.
Siavash Rahbari
Advisory Board Member
Siavash Rahbari is a rule of law development professional who has worked on legal aid and legal education with The Asia Foundation and provided technical and management support at Open Society Afghanistan. Before that, Siavash worked on legal aid and legal education with The Asia Foundation and provided technical and management support at Open Society Afghanistan. Siavash served […]
Siavash Rahbari is a rule of law development professional who has worked on legal aid and legal education with The Asia Foundation and provided technical and management support at Open Society Afghanistan. Before that, Siavash worked on legal aid and legal education with The Asia Foundation and provided technical and management support at Open Society Afghanistan. Siavash served as a project manager and advocacy officer with the International Legal Foundation in Kabul and New York and practiced as a human rights lawyer with the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He began his career as an intern with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Siavash holds a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, USA.
Abdullah Ahmadzai
Advisory Board Member
Abdullah Ahmadzai served as The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Afghanistan from 2014 until September 30, 2024. In this role, he oversaw a wide range of programs, including Governance and Elections, Islam and Development, Women’s Empowerment, Education, and the annual Survey of the Afghan People. Prior to this, he was the Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative […]
Abdullah Ahmadzai served as The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Afghanistan from 2014 until September 30, 2024. In this role, he oversaw a wide range of programs, including Governance and Elections, Islam and Development, Women’s Empowerment, Education, and the annual Survey of the Afghan People. Prior to this, he was the Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative from 2012 to 2014.
A seasoned development professional with expertise in election administration, Ahmadzai previously served as Chief Executive Officer for Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC). As head of the IEC Secretariat, he managed the 2010 elections for the Lower House of Parliament.
Before his tenure with the IEC, from June 2006 to October 2009, Ahmadzai worked with The Asia Foundation under the Support to Center of Government project in Afghanistan, first as a Senior National Capacity Building Advisor and later as Deputy Chief of Party and Chief of Party. He also held positions with the United Nations under the Joint Electoral Management Body Secretariat between 2004 and 2006, serving as an Area Manager and later as Chief of Operations.
Earlier in his career, from 2003 to 2004, Ahmadzai was involved with Afghanistan’s Constitutional Commission, which was established under the 2001 Bonn Agreement to draft a new constitution. He contributed to the Constitutional Loya Jirga and the drafting of the constitution, which was formally adopted in January 2004.
Ahmadzai holds a Bachelor of IT from Brains Degree College in Peshawar, Pakistan, and has completed professional development courses on governance, service delivery, and elections through institutions such as Harvard University, Georgetown University, and the International Foundation for Electoral Services.
Staff Members
Bios of most staff members are not included due to security concerns.
Shaharzad Akbar
Executive Director
Shaharzad Akbar is a human rights activist from Afghanistan, currently in exile, and an Academy Fellow with Chatham House and a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford. Shaharzad has a diverse professional background in human rights, media and culture and youth mobilisation. Shaharzad is a board member for the International Service for Human Rights and […]
Shaharzad Akbar is a human rights activist from Afghanistan, currently in exile, and an Academy Fellow with Chatham House and a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford. Shaharzad has a diverse professional background in human rights, media and culture and youth mobilisation. Shaharzad is a board member for the International Service for Human Rights and a member of the International Advisory Council for Institute for Integrated Transitions.
Shaharzad’s experience spans establishing and running a consultancy firm in Kabul, supporting Afghan civil society and media in her role as Country Director of Open Society Afghanistan, and working with the government of the Republic of Afghanistan on development issues. Prior to the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, Shaharzad was the Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
Shaharzad has advocated for the human rights of Afghans, a dignified and just peace and accountability for gross violations at the international level, including through engaging with the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council. Shaharzad’s writing has appeared in Afghan and international media, including Foreign Affairs, Washington Post, Newsweek, the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Just Security, and academic journals. Shaharzad completed an M.Phil at Oxford University, UK, and previously obtained her B.A from Smith College, USA.
Sadaf Dashti
Deputy Director
Ms. Sadaf is the Deputy Director for Rawadari. She has been a former Diplomat and has served as a Commercial Counselor at the Afghanistan Embassy in Brussels. Additionally, She has served in senior management positions at key government and non-government organizations in the past eight years. She served as the Director of Sectoral Policy Analysis […]
Ms. Sadaf is the Deputy Director for Rawadari. She has been a former Diplomat and has served as a Commercial Counselor at the Afghanistan Embassy in Brussels. Additionally, She has served in senior management positions at key government and non-government organizations in the past eight years. She served as the Director of Sectoral Policy Analysis at the Ministry of Finance, where she was leading the development of the National Priority Program for Private Sector Development (PSD NPP).
For more than four years she worked as the Director of Projects at the Harakat/ Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility Program funded by DFID where she initiated reform projects at the national level (like the business licensing reform, development of a Credit registry system at the Central Bank, and Establishment of the Public and Private Partnership Unit at the Ministry of Finance Afghanistan). She also has experience working at USAID as the Regional Project Director for the PROMOTE Project supporting woman-owned and led businesses.
She has pursued her post-graduate studies in Public Policy with a focus on International Political Economy from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt, Germany. She holds a Bachelor of Economics from Kabul University, Economics Faculty. Speaking of her language competency, in addition to native and national languages, she has fluent English, her German and French language skills are moderate.
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All content published on this website is developed by Rawadari and does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors.
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