Stories of Transformation Episode 53
"Human rights is central to any peace process… The goal for peace should be expanding access to human rights."
Shaharzad Akbar may not appear as someone you’d expect to be leading the charge in one of the world’s harshest environments. But don't let Akbar's quiet demeanor fool you without first hearing her incredible story. Indeed, as chairperson at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, fighting for human rights is exactly what Akbar does everyday. Specifically, she fights on behalf of her fellow Afghan citizens' access to the full range of human rights. Her responsibility includes dissecting, criticizing, and reforming a broken system which has rendered human rights as more of a privilege than a precedent.
Born in Jowzjan, Afghanistan in 1987, Akbar’s upbringing is tragically common for those living in the region during this period. Fleeing the violence and conflict that constantly surrounded them, Akbar and her family moved all around Afghanistan, eventually settling in Pakistan for a time after the Taliban took control. As Akbar described this time, there was an underlying sense, even at her young age, of her homeland being disconnected from the rest of the world; and of its people, its history, and its culture on the verge of being forgotten.
But as difficult as this period was for young Shaharzad, it was also invaluable towards her eventual transformation into one of the foremost champions of human right in her country. During her family’s migration across Afghanistan, Shaharzad was able to see firsthand many of the different landscapes, lifestyles, and cultures that make up the rich tapestry that is Afghanistan. From the city apartment where she grew up, to the small farming village she and her family passed through on their travels, Shaharzad absorbed these images and the people that filled them, and the dreamy vision of a more peaceful, equal Afghanistan began to materialize into her mind.
Shaharzad’s travels, along with her voracious appetite for fictional literature, taught her beyond doubt that all people, at their core, were more similar than they were different. So many stories that she read, regardless of where they took place or who they concerned, held the same values at heart. Similarly, many of the kindest people she had come across living in the Middle East had seemed to care most about the most fundamental aspects of life: family, health, and community, to name a few.
In contrast to that, Shaharzad's time spent studying abroad in The United States was among the more eye-opening experiences as to how the rest of the world operated. While attending college in Massachusetts, Shaharzad saw firsthand the stark difference between the concerns of the world’s most privileged peoples as compared to her compatriots back home. Whereas many of her American peers were concerned about an upcoming exam, Akbar knew that the common daily concern of many of her friends and family back home was literally that of survival - of actual life and death. She had finally seen the full spectrum of human rights for herself.
Though the weight of her responsibility is great, Akbar is somehow able to keep calm in her dealings with human rights violations on a daily basis. Even with the threat of backlash ideological opposition, and the daily atrocities that appear on her desk, Akbar remains resilient in her responsibility, and confident in her vision of what she knows Afghanistan can become. Akbar believes that improving human rights in Afghanistan begins with stopping the violence, and reevaluating the systems in place and the harmful aspects of society that those systems have perpetuated. How can you improve peoples’ lives if the systems and structures in place are directly preventing that?
In this episode of Stories of Transformation, we discuss the importance of understanding context in different human rights projects around the world; finding the strength to keep going even in the face of daily adversity; what literature, art, and storytelling can teach us about our shared human experiences; and what it means and what it takes to be a leader of a human rights initiative.
KEY TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
How Shaharzad and other human rights advocates find the strength to keep going even when dealing with atrocity on a daily basis
Different cultural contexts and how human rights initiatives in Afghanistan differ as compared to other parts of the world
How systemic reform is top priority in a place like Afghanistan where survival itself can be a daily struggle
What literature, art, and escapism can teach us about our common human experiences
How traveling and exposure to different cultures from a young age gave Shaharzad a unique anthropological lens through which to work
An inside look at some of the hard truths and the prospect of reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban
Shaharzad Akbar’s MESSAGE FOR THE WORLD
"I think there is now greater acknowledgement and realization that we are all interconnected, right? …Climate change is impacting us all… 9/11, in a way, impacted us all. COVID impacted us all. We're all interconnected and... progress, prosperity, acts to human rights will really actually make a difference if it is universally experienced.
I think we should all strive towards [thinking] beyond our national borders; we should try to think as citizens of the world about what can we do to make this world better? And because we are interconnected, we can't afford to say, ‘you know what? As long as I get what I want in my community, in my neighborhood, my job is done.'
So in that sense, I think it's very important, particularly for Afghanistan as we're moving forward in this process. I see that fatigue. I hear about it. I have been hearing about it from our international partners for years. They're saying… 'this country is not fixable. There is too much corruption. There is violence… This is part of the culture of these people. We just have to attend to the needs of our own people. We are done here.'
I think that's unfair, first of all, because the problems that are here now is not a product of just Afghans… This is a product of a global picture of inequality, about the role of regional and international community in this region, and a lot of bigger discussions about terrorism, [and] how that functions.
… I'll give you one example, the weapons that are being used in the conflict in Afghanistan had already been produced. This is not just an Afghan problem; this is a problem for everyone… And I think we are at [a] moment where there are more Afghans who are ready to take charge for the future of Afghanistan.
So I appreciate that shift in global discussions about Afghanistan, international community discussion about Afghanistan, about Afghans taking more responsibility. Absolutely, hold us accountable. We are responsible for our country. We have to take more responsibility.
But this has to be an exchange. This has to be a partnership. This can't be, 'okay. We both tried something together. It didn't work. Now we are out. Deal with it yourself.’"
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CREDITS
Hosted by: Baktash Ahadi
Podcast Production by: Joseph Gangemi
Digital Marketing & Media by: Katherine An
Theme Music by: Qais Essar
Artwork by: Masheed Ahadi
ADDITIONAL MUSIC CREDITS FOR THIS EPISODE:
"Flight of the Inner Bird" by Sivan Talmor, Yehezkel Raz
"Be Still" by Doug Kaufman
"Neshama Yetera" by Itai Armon
"Desert Snake" by Onxy Music
"Abdo's Song (feat. Abdo Beko)" by Endure