Research Fellows 2023
Hanifa Girowal
Hanifa Girowal was a young female politician, and human rights advocate who served as Kabul’s deputy governor on socio-economic and development affairs, managing development and funding projects, mitigating conflicts, and providing essential services to Kabul residents.
Previously, she worked with the Afghanistan Independent human rights commission (AIHRC), where she contributed to creating the independent human rights and gender units in Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). She published the first report on the situation of Afghan women in ANDSF, bringing a dramatic change in the situation of women serving in the police, intelligence, and armed forces, from a rise in their pay to help them get access to professional development programs that qualified them to obtain leadership positions.
Hanifa is also a managing partner and senior advisor to Alpha Afghanistan, a non-profit organization that is working to help young Afghan innovators and social thinkers to turn their ideas into actions to foster social change in the country through technology. Girowal holds a master’s degree in public international law from Brunel University London, which she acquired through Chevening Scholarship. Hanifa has also served as a trainer on Women’s leadership, Good Governance, and Sustainable development goals with the United Nations Institute for training and research (UNITAR).”
Ehsan Qaane
Ehsan Qaane has joined RWI in January 2023 as a research fellow. Prior to this, he worked with Afghanistan Analysts Network, a policy researcher organisation, as a political and legal affairs researcher (2012-2022) and as the country director (2017-2020). He is a member of and adviser to several human rights networks in Afghanistan, including the Afghanistan Forensics Science Organisation (AFSO) and Transitional Justice Coordination Group (TJCG). He has published a vast amount of research on the conflict in Afghanistan, the International Criminal Court’s engagement in Afghanistan, human rights and international humanitarian law. He worked as a visiting professional at the International Criminal Court.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
- B (Kateb University, Afghanistan)
- M (Kateb University, Afghanistan) (Incomplete)
Work Experience
- 2009-2010: Researcher, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)
- 2010-2012: Afghanistan National Programme Coordinator, International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- 2012-2022: Legal and Political Affairs Researcher/Junior Analyst, Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN)
- 2017-2020: Country Director, AAN
- 2015-2016: Visiting Professional, The International Criminal Court (ICC)
Selected Publications
- Delaying Justice? The ICC’s war crimes investigation in limbo over who represents Afghanistan, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2022.
- Regime Change, Economic Decline and No Legal Protection: What has happened to the Afghan media, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2022.
- Afghan War Crimes Trials in The Netherlands: Who are the suspects and what have been the outcomes?, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2020.
- One Land, Two Rules (9): Delivering public services in insurgency-affected Jalrez district of Wardak province, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2019.
- Beginning of a New Era at the AIHRC: Nine fresh commissioners, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2019.
- The 2018 Election Observed (7) in Daikundi: The outstanding role of women, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2019.
- The Insecure Spring of Ghazni: Results of third-grade treatment by the centre?, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2018.
- Harassment of Women in Afghanistan: A hidden phenomenon addressed in too many laws, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2017.
- Afghanistan’s New Law on Freedom of Assembly: Limiting the space to demonstrate, edited and published by Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2017.
Mahmouda Sonia Eqbal
Mohammad Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor
Mohammad Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor is an Afghan academic, Peace and Human Rights activist who has served as a lecturer at Kabul University, Sharia and Law faculties (1991-2007), where he completed his BA studies in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law in 1990. Ramizpoor pursued postgraduate studies on Good Governance and Sharia at Birmingham University UK in 2005 as a Chevening fellow, International Human Rights Law at Nottingham University in 2010, and his MA degree in UNDP-supported program on Gender and Women Studies at the Social Science Faculty of Kabul University in 2018.
Ramizpoor is the founder of the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization( AELSO), one of the top Afghan think tanks, which has actively promoted Free Society values, Human Rights, Peace, Good Governance, and the Rule of Law at national, regional, and global levels through various platforms and civil society organizations. His written book on Human Rights (Selected Documents of International Human Rights Instruments), which was published by FNF Germany in 2001, significantly enhanced human rights studies in Afghanistan. In addition, he is one of the authors of the first Afghan Legal Glossary published by USAID in 2009 and has been used as an academic legal reference for law enforcement and judiciary employees in Afghanistan.
Mr. Ramizpoor is a council member of the Pugwash Conferences organization, the Afghanistan Human Rights Defenders’ Committee, and the Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism. He has been closely engaged in his collaborations with several national, regional, and global organizations on promoting peace, human rights, and analytical thoughts on Islamic Law, Human Rights, free society values, peace, and the market economy. Since July 2007 to 31 March 2022, Ramizpoor has served as a Human Rights officer at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), actively engaging with Afghan civil society groups, human rights defenders, media, and peace activists.
Voices of Previous Research Fellows
Below are Farima Nawabi and Massoud Adrakhsh, previous research fellows at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute.
Farima Nawabi - Previous Afghan fellow.
Massoud Adrakhsh - Previous Afghan fellow.
