Afghan Woman Human Rights Defender Horia Mosadiq to give Front Line Defenders lectures
Renowned activist and journalist to speak in Dublin, Galway and Belfast
Afghan Woman Human Rights Defender (WHRD) and journalist, Horia Mosadiq, will be the keynote speaker at an annual series of human rights lectures hosted by Front Line Defenders in partnership with four universities in Dublin, Galway and Belfast from 11-14 March.
Her lecture, titled “How Afghan Women are Defying the Taliban”, will address the crisis for women’s rights under the Taliban takeover in August 2021, which sparked a new period of prolonged and profound repression of human rights in Afghanistan, impacting Afghan women and girls in particular. Mosadiq will discuss the struggle of women and girls, and women human rights defenders in this context, as well as what can be done to support them.
“We are honoured to host Horia Mosadiq as our Front Line Defenders 2024 Annual Lecture speaker, especially given Afghanistan’s urgent need of international attention in a context of systemic persecution and increasingly abusive policies towards human rights defenders, particularly women and girls, since the Taliban takeover,” said Olive Moore, Interim Director of Front Line Defenders.
“We believe Horia’s dedicated work over the years to empower, support and protect Afghan human rights defenders and civil society actors is very well-aligned with Front Line Defenders’ mission. We hope that her lectures will inspire attendees to join our unwavering call for the protection of human rights defenders in Afghanistan and all around the world.”
A well-known and well-respected WHRD, Horia is the founder of a number of organisations, including Safety and Risk Mitigation Organization (SRMO), which focuses on the protection of Human Rights Defenders and Conflict Analysis Network (CAN), a research, advocacy, and capacity-building think thank focusing on violent extremism, radicalisation, and its impact on human rights.
She has received numerous awards including the 2007 National Human Rights Award in Afghanistan, the 2012 and 2015 Women Rights Defender Award from Amnesty International, and her most recent one, the 2020 Award from Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) for her outstanding work on women, peace, justice and reconciliation.
The lectures will be held at Trinity College Dublin on 11 March, University of Galway on 12 March, and Queen’s University Belfast on 14 March.
Further details and registration information are available at:
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/annual-front-line-defenders-lecture
The Annual Front Line Defenders Lecture was established in 2013 to provoke discussion and debate about the range of issues affecting human rights defenders as they work tirelessly to bring about changes and build robust civil societies. Held in partnership with universities in Dublin, Belfast and Galway, the lecture is broadly accessible to a general audience with an interest in philosophy, law, human rights, current affairs and politics.
The Annual Lecture University Partners include: UCD School of Philosophy, UCD School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe), UCD Centre for Human Rights, Trinity College Dublin's Law School, Irish Centre For Human Rights at the University of Galway, and The Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University, Belfast.
About Front Line Defenders: Front Line Defenders is an international human rights organisation founded in Dublin in 2001, with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk (HRDs). The organisation works to improve the security and protection of human rights defenders and organisations around the world at risk for their peaceful and legitimate human rights work. As identified by human rights defenders themselves, Front Line Defenders responds to protection and security needs by providing support through grants, capacity building, visibility, networking and advocacy, at the international, regional and local levels. Front Line Defenders has been awarded the 2018 United Nations Human Rights Prize.
