Fawzia Koofi Profile Picture

Keynote SpeakerFawzia Koofi

Afghan politician, writer, and women's rights activist

Fawzia Koofi is an Afghan parliamentary lawmaker, accomplished author, and internationally known outspoken advocate for the rights of women and children, democracy, and moderate Islam. She is the first female in the Afghan parliament to be elected as Second Deputy Speaker, and she heads the parliament’s Women Affairs Commission. Not... Read more

Biography

Fawzia Koofi is an Afghan parliamentary lawmaker, accomplished author, and internationally known outspoken advocate for the rights of women and children, democracy, and moderate Islam. She is the first female in the Afghan parliament to be elected as Second Deputy Speaker, and she heads the parliament’s Women Affairs Commission. Not only has Koofi humanized the otherwise faceless international discussion of the struggles and abuse of Afghan women, she is on the forefront of educating the international community as to the consequences for her, and other advocates of reform should the international community and their security forces be withdrawn.

Fawzia Koofi started her political career in 2001 when she began to promote a “Back To School” campaign targeted at the rights of women in Afghanistan to an education. By 2002 she took employment as a Child Protection Officer with UNICEF, and in 2005 she was elected as a parliamentary representative for Badakhshan province, her native region in the rural mountains of northern Afghanistan.

Popular Talks by Fawzia Koofi

  • Geopolitics
    Rising influence China is having in the world and the decline of the West as a superpower, with the perspective of the poor withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan and how that left a power vacuum for extremists and how the investment by China is leading to a reversal in...
  • Negotiation, Conflict Resolution

    Fawzia was in the delegation who negotiated with the Taliban in order to establish the peace in Afghanistan

  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • The growth of military extremism in South central Asia
  • Girl's education