Asila Wardak Is the First Afghan Woman Appointed to the Human Rights Commission at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

https://www.inclusivesecurity.org/network-bio/asila-wardak-jamal/

April 2016 – Asila Wardak Jamal, a prominent women’s rights and civil society activist, is the first Afghan woman elected as a member on the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation’s Independent Human Rights Commission.

Previously Ms. Wardak served as Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations. She was also appointed as Director General of Human Rights and Women’s International Affairs at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 2009-2011 she was a gender and social development specialist at the Asian Development Bank. She has previously worked as a safety and social development specialist for the World Bank, during which she had short-term consultancies with the UN Development Programme, UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, CARE and the Canada Fund.

She is a frequent representative spokesperson at national, regional, and international convenings on Afghanistan. As a member of the Afghan Women’s Network, she joined the organization’s civil society delegation at the 2011 Bonn Conference in Germany. She also participated in the 2010 Loya Peace Jirga as one of the only women representatives.

Ms. Wardak holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economy from Kabul University and a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy from New Jersey University.