On 17 September 2024, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists hosted an event to highlight the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, three years after the Taliban's return to de facto power. The evening’s speakers, who discussed the current situation and proposed paths forward, were:

  • Zahra Joya, an Afghan journalist living in London, and the editor-in-chief and founder of Rukhshana Media, a news agency reporting on the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan;
     
  • Sir Laurie Bristow, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Afghanistan from June to November 2021, and currently President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge University; and
     
  • Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, who is currently a visiting professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden.

The conversation was moderated by Amie Ferris-Rotman, a British-American journalist based in London, currently the global news editor at New Lines Magazine. Manizha Talash, an Afghan breakdancer who competed in the 2024 Olympic Games for the Refugee Team, also addressed the audience. She made headlines after being disqualified for wrapping herself in a burqa bearing the message "Free Afghan Women."

Afghanistan event
Watch the event recording here