Shazia Haya Ahmadzai(2021)
Shazia Haya Ahmadzai is an Afghan journalist who has only just emerged from quarantine following her dramatic escape from Kabul. She pursued her career in journalism against the wishes of her father, uncles and brothers, saying, “I never gave up fighting for my human rights in my own family, and in society!†She has reported for the BBC’s Pashto service and presented a ‘Hard Talk’ television show, ‘Open Jirga’, from Kandahar in the Taliban heartland, earlier this year. Her last piece of journalism before being forced to flee her country was published in Chatham House’s The World Today magazine. It ends with the words: “Afghan women hope that the world will not abandon and forget them again. Unbelievably, it seems, this is exactly where we appear to be heading.â€
