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.