Fatema Jafari is a women’s rights advocate, public leader, and social development professional with over a decade of experience in governance, human rights, and community empowerment. She served for more than ten years as a councilwoman of the Herat Provincial Council in Afghanistan, where she was an active member of several committees focused on women’s rights, human rights, and social affairs. As an elected female representative, she monitored government performance and advocated for the protection of women and minority groups.

For three years, Fatema chaired the Family Support Committee, where she facilitated the establishment of an umbrella network of approximately 80 women’s organizations to strengthen coordination and collective advocacy.

Fatema has been awarded prestigious international fellowships, including the International Visitor Leadership Program (USA, 2012), the Reagan-Fascell Fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellowship at Yale University (2016). She is the author of *Women’s Political Participation in Afghanistan*. In 2022, she completed a Master’s degree in Peace, Conflict and Development at the University of Bradford (UK) as a peace fellow.

Currently based in the Netherlands, Fatema works as a Program Support Officer at Doctors of the World in Amsterdam, continuing her commitment to human rights, inclusion, and social justice.

Participant in: March 2023 Fellowship: Climate Change, Gender, and Conflict