Soudaba Wahabzada is a Peace and Reconciliation Associate with UNAMA, where she contributes in projects promoting peace and conflict resolution in remote provinces of Afghanistan with a focus on women’s inclusion in mediation, conflict resolution, and peace negotiations. In addition, she has been working on providing practical legal courses and legal aid clinics focusing on gender-equality and promoting women’s access to free legal aid services and justice institutions.

Soudaba was born and grew up in a remote district (Injil) of Herat province where she graduated with the honor of first-grade student of her school. She then the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) through U.S Embassy Scholarship in 2015. She was selected to participate in and represent AUAF in the Nuremberg Moot Court Competition in 2016 in Germany and was selected as a member for Gujrat International Moot Court competition in 2018 in India. In December 2018, she graduated from AUAF majoring in Law and minoring in English with a GPA of 3.90 and she was selected as the Valedictorian for AUAF Graduating Class of 2019.

Soudaba’s great passion is to contribute in achieving a sustainable peace in Afghanistan, especially by building capacities on conflict analysis and peacebuilding as well as to protect fundamental human rights in conflict-affected communities. She is currently writing a short story displaying the effects of child marriage and unpleasant traditional stereotypes on Afghan girls’ lives.

Participant in: December 2019 Fellowship: Peacebuilding and Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peacebuilding Processes