Dr Sima Samar, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is a renowned human rights advocate and an influential global figure dedicated to public service, humanitarian work, and women’s empowerment.
From 2002 to 2019, she was the Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), which holds human rights violators accountable and sets the human rights agenda in Afghanistan. Dr Samar is the Chairperson of the Commission for the Prevention of Torture and was the Chairperson of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) for a short period.
Before being appointed Chair of AIHRC, Dr Samar was the Vice President of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan and the first Minister of Women’s Affairs. Between 2005 and 2009, she served as the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on human rights in Sudan. In 2019, she was appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. From 2020 to 2021, Dr Samar served as a member of the High-Level Panel for Internal Displacement.
Her commitment to her community is evident through her NGO, Shuhada, which runs 55 middle and high schools for girls and boys in Afghanistan, and four schools in Quetta, Pakistan, for Afghan refugees.
Shuhada also operates 12 clinics and three hospitals in Afghanistan, and one hospital in Quetta for refugees, providing education and healthcare, particularly for women and children. Shuhada trains women to be midwives, nurses, and in income-generating projects, often in remote parts of Afghanistan.
Dr Samar continuously advocates for underrepresented and marginalised women, children, older people and minorities, firmly believing that respect for human rights, human dignity, equality, and access to justice will change the current reality and reduce conflict.
Her memoir is Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan.Â