Research Fellows 2025
Maryam Safi
Maryam Safi, an experienced professional in human rights, peace, and conflict resolution from Afghanistan. She holds a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University in Sweden, earned through a Rotary Scholarship. She also obtained a Master of Arts in Applied Community Change, specializing in Peacebuilding, from Future Generations University in West Virginia, USA, supported by the Kathryn W. Davis Peacebuilding Scholarship. Additionally, Maryam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic Law from the Sharia Law Faculty of Kabul University in Afghanistan.
Currently, Maryam is conducting research on the right to education in Afghanistan, with a focus on education and peace, exploring “Understanding education under the Taliban-era: Why do the Taliban use school curricula and textbooks as tools to consolidate their military victory?.”
With over a decade of experience in human rights and peacebuilding, Maryam specializes in women’s education and empowerment, human rights advocacy, research, and program development and management. As a Program Manager for Students’ Experiences at ReDI School of Digital Integration in Malmö, she played a key role in advancing the integration and empowerment of immigrant women through tech education. She also managed the Human Rights portfolio at Open Society Foundations in Afghanistan, advocating for and supporting women’s rights issues in the country.
Her work has extended to youth empowerment and political participation, where she contributed to establishing youth councils in eight regions of Afghanistan, equipping young people with leadership skills, and advocating for Afghan youth policy, which she presented at the first Global Forum on Youth Policies.
Additionally, Maryam has contributed to various research publications through her work with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Democracy International (DI), and the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU).
Maryam Safi remains a catalyst for positive change in Afghanistan and beyond through her enduring commitment to human rights, peace, and education.
Fatema Ahmadi
Fatema D. Ahmadi is a dedicated human rights advocate and international development practitioner with over a decade of experience advancing women’s and children’s rights in conflict and post-conflict settings. She has collaborated with national and international organizations on policy development, human rights advocacy, and community engagement.
Currently, at Rawadari, she leads an accountability program where she hopes to be part of the effort to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations in Afghanistan accountable and ensure that the victims see justice after long-standing impunity in Afghanistan.
From 2022 to 2024, Ahmadi served as a Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the American University School of Public Affairs, where she focused on women’s rights movements in the Global South, with a particular emphasis on Afghanistan. Before this, at the U.S. Institute of Peace, she led peacebuilding initiatives with grassroots movements, journalists, women, and Afghan and international groups for the anticipated peace process in Afghanistan to amplify marginalized voices throughout the processes.
As a Fulbright Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow (2018–2019) at American University Washington College of Law, Ahmadi focused on the law and policies related to human trafficking for women and children and completed consultation roles with the World Bank and the International Republican Institute, informing the status of women, minorities, and vulnerable communities in Afghanistan. Prior to this, she spearheaded one of the largest counter-human trafficking programs at Hagar International to make sure the policies and laws for protecting victims of human trafficking are in place and involved actors are well equipped with the knowledge to identify, refer, and protect the victims. She also co-authored the country’s first national Trafficking in Persons (TiP) training manual.
She holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the American University School of Public Affairs, with a specialization in global governance and management.
Nazeela Elmi
Nazeela Elmi is a human rights scholar and professional specializing in conflict-affected regions, with a particular focus on gender, transitional justice, and inclusive peace-building. She has served as a Professional Specialist at the Afghanistan Policy Lab at Princeton University, centering human rights advocacy and policy research in her work.
Nazeela holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University, where her research examined human rights abuses and reporting in Afghanistan, with an emphasis on marginalized and understudied communities. Previously, she worked with the Centre for Information Resilience – Afghan Witness, conducting open-source investigations and human rights monitoring, with a particular focus on the surge in women’s suicides, honor killings and extremist propaganda.
Nazeela has contributed to global policy discussions, engaging with high-level experts on Afghanistan’s evolving political and humanitarian landscape. Her commitment to human rights extends beyond research and advocacy to humanitarian initiatives, including fundraising efforts for displaced communities both within Afghanistan and in the diaspora.
Her scholarship includes publications in English, German, and Turkish critically analyzing the status of human rights and women’s situation under the Taliban rule. Her research interrogates dominant narratives on Afghanistan and explores gender issues through an intersectional lens, with particular attention to women’s resistance movements, the gendered impact of forced displacement, and youth engagement in peace and justice initiatives.
Nazeela’s lived experience as an Uzbek, Afghan woman, and young advocate deeply informs her scholarship and activism. She remains dedicated to advancing inclusive peace and justice programs for Afghanistan’s most marginalized communities.
Hafizullah Saeedi
Hafizullah Saeedi is an independent researcher and a human rights defender. He holds a Master of Arts in Global Studies from Leipzig University, Germany. He obtained a double degree in International and Comparative Politics from American University of Central Asia and Bard College-NYC, for his undergraduate studies.
Hafizullah has a background in human rights advocacy at the United Nations and European Union level. His area of research includes human rights, security and development studies, with a focus on minority issues, countering violent extremism, and humanitarian action. In the context of Afghanistan, he has written extensively on social movements, minorities and hate speech, as well as political participation of women and youth in national processes. He has previously worked with Minority Rights Group International, European Center for Minority Issues, and Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development. In addition to his mother tongue Persian/Dari, he speaks English, Pashto, Russian and German languages.
Atal Ahmadzai
Dr. Atal Ahmadzai has been a dedicated advocate for environmental security and human rights. He earned his degree from Kabul University before pursuing further studies at Mahidol University in Thailand. His professional career includes working with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where he worked on human development initiatives in Afghanistan and co-authored the National Human Development Report for the country. Following this, Dr. Ahmadzai continued his education at Rutgers University, where he obtained a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Global Affairs, focusing on Environmental and Human Security. Since 2015, he has held various academic roles, including adjunct instructor, post-doctoral scholar, and visiting professor. During his time as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Arizona, Dr. Ahmadzai examined the governance systems of armed non-state actors in South Asia. As a subject matter expert, he has also contributed to the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Dr. Ahmadzai’s research and teaching interests center on the intersection of environment, development, and conflict. Currently, as a Visiting Assistant Professor, he teaches environmental courses at Colby College. His scholarly and non-scholarly works have been published in numerous academic journals and respected publications. At the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI), he examines the nexus between climate shocks and human rights in Afghanistan.
Mohammad Mustafa Raheal
Mohammad Mustafa Raheal is a dedicated activist and researcher specializing in human rights and social development. He holds a Master’s degree in International Development with Conflict and Humanitarian Action, achieved through the prestigious Chevening Scholarship and currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Humanities and Social Policy department at the University of Bath under a British Council Scholarship. His research focuses on urban-rural disparities and their impact on sustainable peace and human rights in Afghanistan.
With over seven years of experience in international development and humanitarian work, Mustafa has held key leadership roles with organizations such as the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) at the Swedish Embassy in Kabul, the Civil Peace Service Program of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Migration for Development Program of the International Psychosocial Organization (IPSO). His expertise includes program development, risk assessment, multi-agency collaboration, refugee resettlement, and conducting research on equitable aid distribution and sustainable peacebuilding.
Mustafa served as a Research Consultant with the University of Bath’s Centre for Development Studies (CDS), focusing on fostering equitable partnerships in academic research and currently a Quantitative Researcher with University College London’s Institute of Education (IOE), Department of Education and Society, contributing to critical studies on refugee integration in England.
Through the RWI Fellowship, Mustafa will examine horizontal inequalities in aid distribution in Afghanistan, aiming to highlight systemic challenges. As a passionate advocate and researcher, Mustafa combines his professional and academic expertise to support marginalized communities and contribute to sustainable development.
Tahmina Sobat
Tahmina Sobat is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she is also a Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC). She earned her law degree from Herat University in 2015 and went on to complete an LLM in International Human Rights Law at the University of Notre Dame in 2020. As a Fulbright Scholar, she obtained her second master’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Tahmina’s interdisciplinary research centers on transnational feminist theory, epistemic violence, politics of representation, and peacebuilding. Her dissertation critically examines the Paradoxical Representation of Elite Afghan Women within Feminist Empire, exploring the complex intersections of gender, imperialism, and postcolonial thought. She employs feminist and postcolonial research methodologies, to challenge systems of power and exclusion.
Her scholarly contributions include publications in Contending Modernities at the University of Notre Dame, the Gender and Policy Report at the University of Minnesota, SIGMA: The South Asian Journal, and the Agitate journal. These works address issues such as gender apartheid, Afghan women’s struggles for transnational feminist solidarities, and the structural inequalities embedded in global peacebuilding efforts.
Professionally, Tahmina has held significant roles in human rights advocacy and women’s empowerment. She is currently serving as a board member for the Afghan Cultural Society in Minnesota. Previously, she worked as Monitoring and Evaluation Deputy for the Women Empowerment Program at Zardozi Organization, and Ombudsperson at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).
Tahmina’s work reflects a deep commitment to advancing feminist scholarship and the field of Afghanistan studies, advocating for human rights, and fostering transnational solidarities to address the challenges facing marginalized communities in Afghanistan and beyond.
Kaweh Kerami
Kaweh Kerami is a political scientist whose work bridges politics, (digital) media and human rights. He earned his PhD in Development Studies from SOAS University of London, where he investigated how power dynamics and competing interests shape political competition and cooperation in post-intervention Afghanistan (2001–2021). Drawing on comparative and narrative analyses, supported by extensive primary data and elite interviews, his research offers nuanced insights into political bargaining and (in)stability in conflict-affected contexts.
As a Research Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI), Kaweh examines how journalists use digital technologies to document human rights violations, focusing on challenges such as verification, security, and legal admissibility. His work also addresses the role of misinformation, including AI-driven disinformation, in shaping political discourse and media landscapes. Through these investigations, he aims to support international accountability efforts by developing secure, credible documentation methods and strengthening pathways for peace and justice.
Kaweh taught at the American University in Kabul (2019–2021) and currently serves as a Master’s thesis supervisor at SOAS University of London. He has worked as a journalist for the BBC World Service, covering politics, war, and women’s rights, and most recently served as a specialist researcher for BBC Media Action on a U.S.-funded project examining media under Taliban rule. In his free time, he enjoys iPhone photography, capturing moments of beauty and reflection.
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