Free 10-Week Online Seminar
Every Monday, September 30 – December 2, 2024
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
This seminar will delve into the multifaceted role of women in Afghanistan’s peace and security landscape. By examining their historical struggle for rights and emancipation, their participation in formal and informal peace processes, and the impact of conflict on their unity and participation, we seek to shed light on the challenges and opportunities for women in building a more peaceful and democratic Afghanistan.
Learning objectives include:
- Explore the historical journey of women’s rights emancipation in Afghanistan
- Examine the role of women in traditional institutions and local dispute resolution mechanisms.
- Analyze women’s participation in formal peace processes and its implications for democratic development.
- Identify hurdles hindering women’s participation in future peace processes and strategies to overcome them.
- Assess the impact of conflict on women’s unity and participation in peacebuilding efforts. Evaluate the “youthification of governance” strategy of the Ghani government and its investment in young Afghan women and men.
Seminar Leaders
Aziz Amin
Senior Research Fellow, The Brenthurst Foundation
Aziz Amin is a researcher and writer with a background in policy analysis, conflict resolution, security and peacebuilding, research and development, governance, political affairs, and socio-political engagement within conflict and post-conflict contexts in Afghanistan and the South Asian region. He holds a Master’s degree in Conflict, Development, and Security from Lancaster University, UK as a Chevening Scholar.
In Afghanistan, Aziz served as principal secretary and special assistant to the former Afghan President, as well as Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and Senior Operations and Policy Advisor for Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Brenthurst Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Palwasha Hassan
Senior Technical and Program Director, Mina’s List
Palwasha Hassan is a women’s rights and peace activist with over 26 years of experience managing and leading complex projects in the fields of gender, development, humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding. She served as a representative of civil society groups in numerous constitutional and peacekeeping negotiations including the Constitutional Loya Jirga, the Peace Jirga on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Forum in Tokyo.
She is a former Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute of Women Peace and Security, the Jennings Randolph Afghanistan Fellow at the US Institute of Peace, and the founding executive director of the Afghan Women’s Educational
Center. Hassan holds a master’s degree in Post-war Recovery Studies from York University, UK.
Syllabus and Readings
More Information
Participants who attend at least 8 out of 10 complete seminar sessions will receive a certificate of satisfactory completion signed by the Dean of The New School for Social Research. To obtain the certificate, participants must register and log in with the same email address each week.
Registration will remain open for the duration of the seminar. Registrants will receive a reminder email with the Zoom link each week. The seminar sessions will be recorded and available to registrants on Vimeo the following week.