United Nations

Ms. Hosna Jalil, born on 27th March 1992 in Kabul and grown up in Ghazni, is the Deputy Minister of Policy and Strategy at the Ministry of Interior Affairs of I.R. Afghanistan. Miss Jalil has proven executive management as well as policy development track record with 6 years of professional experience in a wide range of industries, from mining and petroleum to importation and production of pharmaceutical products. Over the course of her career, Miss Jalil served as senior representative, brand ambassador, analyst, a consultant for small startups, chief executive officer, member of the management board and member of BoD for different local and international organizations, from startups to well established private, government and non-for-profit organizations. Before joining Ministry of Interior, she has served at the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum of I.R. Afghanistan as head of policy and research Directorate. Miss Jalil has received her master’s degree in business administration, majored in management from the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).

H.E. Ambassador Ms. Khojesta Fana Ebrahimkhel is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Republic of Austria and Permanent/Resident Representative to the United Nations and other International and Regional Organizations in Vienna since 2017. She represents Afghanistan in Austria and three other countries covered by the Afghan Embassy in Vienna, namely Hungary, Liechtenstein, and Slovenia. Ms. Khojesta Fana Ebrahimkhel started her diplomatic career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006, first as Deputy Chief of Staff, then as Chief of Staff and Advisor to the Minister. She later served as Counsellor at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, D.C., where she also acted as Chargé d’Affaires a.i., as well as Director-General of the Office of Human Rights and Women’s International Affairs. She also founded the Afghan Women Diplomats’ Association. Prior to her diplomatic career, Ms. Khojesta Fana Ebrahimkhel worked as an attorney in the office of the Attorney-General in Kabul, as a crime investigator in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, and – later, in Germany – campaigned as a social activist for Afghan refugees and for women’s rights, actively participated in the German-Afghan Association, the German Lawyers’ Association, and Germany’s International Women’s Club, while acting as a lecturer and panelist, and published articles on women’s rights.

Dr. Ibtisam is the Director-General of the Directorate of Women Empowerment at the Secretary General for the Council of Ministers of Iraq. Motivated to join peacebuilding efforts by the execution of her husband under Saddam Hussein’s regime and her own sentence to prison, in 2003, Dr. Ibtisam joined her local council before becoming a member of the provincial council of Baghdad, in human rights and women’s rights committees. From 2006 (to present) Dr. Ibtisam began her current work as the DG at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers. Via her position, she participated in several committees on women and human rights. She participated in the writing of the law for the disabled and people with special needs. Dr. Ibtisam is a member of a committee that advocates for the rights of the LGBTI community in Iraq. She is a member of the Committee for the Advancement of Iraqi Women. She participated in writing the strategy for the advancement of the status of Iraqi women. After Iraq signed the joint statement to address sexual violence during conflicts in 2016, Dr. Ibtisam became - i) High-level focal point for the Iraqi government with the United Nations Office on Sexual Violence; ii) Member of the Central Committee Combating Human trafficking; iii) Member of the report writing committee; iv) Director-General of the women empowerment department; v) National Coordinator for Iraq with the World Bank, amongst others. She graduated from the University of Baghdad, College of Dentistry in 1979 and has a private practice as a dentist. She was also trained in international law and human rights at the Italian Institute of San Remo and the Center for International Human Rights in Oslo.

Dr. Ahmed Ali is an academic, a researcher, a civil society and human rights activist, and a legal expert in civil rights and protection for groups of vulnerability and minorities. He is a university lecturer holding a Ph.D. in International Criminal Comparative Law from Cairo University, Egypt. He is a Judicial Investigator with more than 24 years of experience in judicial council, dealing with criminal cases in KRG since 1996. He is the founder and Head of I.O.L (i.e. the Investigator Organization for the Rule of Law), launched in 2016. He is actively in touch and collaborates with international agencies as: a Member of International Association for Prosecutors (the Hague / Netherlands), a legal expert in 1325 Security Council Resolution Alliance in Iraq, a legal consultant in the Accountability and Justice Task Force with UNAMI in the ISIL cases, in addition to collaborating with UNFPA , UNODC, NED , EURO-midi initiative, ESCWA , UN Women. He conducts training of government staff, parliament members, judges, general prosecutor’s judicial council staff, civil society and law enforcement institutions about the national action plan ,1325 security council resolutions and women empowerment. He gives training on monitoring and reporting of criminal procedures in women’s cases in courts of KRG, in line with international women and human rights conventions. He has participated in international conferences on gender justice and equality before the law, implementation of legal domestic laws according to human trafficking crimes and counter terrorism, international cooperation, organized crimes, interview investigations and human rights.

Ms. Suzan Arif Marof was born in Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Erbil, in June 1961. She is a human rights activist since 1998, holding bachelor’s degree in economy and Administration from Cihan University and an honorary doctorate in Human rights from International University for preliminary’s study. She is also the founder and director of Women Empowerment Organization since 2004, and the coordinator of Iraq task force (CSTF) 1325 since 2014 as per the decree of the Iraqi Council of Ministers in 2017. Since 2012. She has been playing a leading role to ensure a robust partnership between CSOs and both governments of Iraq and Kurdistan in developing the Iraqi national action plan 1325 which was adopted by both governments in 2014 and thus Iraq became the first country in the MENA region to have a national action plan (NAP) for UNSCR 1325. Besides, she was working closely with the legal committee of the CSTF 1325 and pushed for the recognition and amendment of all the discriminatory laws and legislations in the personal status law and penal code. Since 2012, Suzan is coordinating a large alliance of civil society (Alliance 1325) which includes 40 NGOs to support the development of Iraq national plan and its implementation. Suzan has extensive experience in the field of women empowerment, national planning, gender mainstreaming in policies and plans, gender equality, women peace and security agenda as well as working as a consultant on women issues and strategies for many national and international agencies in the region.

Ms. Fatemeh Javani is Head of the Office of International Organizations and Associations of International Affairs in the Ministry of Interior. In her area of responsibility, relations with international and regional organizations are followed and carried out, including work with UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UNHCR, UNAIDS, IOM, JICA, ECO etc. During her tenure, the amount of interactions and cooperation documents exchanged between the Ministry of Interior and international organizations have increased. She is PhD student in sociology working on a dissertation with a comparative study of the social protection of children in international documents and domestic procedures. She has been involved in social and international activities in the personal and business spheres, including: membership to the Working Group for the Development of AIDS Behavioral Regulations in Iran for NGOs by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and UN AIDS; the Management of Social transformation Committee (MOST) of the National Commission for UNESCO by order of the Minister of Science, Research and Technology; the National Committee of the First Meeting of the Heads of Civil Registration Organizations of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); the National Committee for Child-Friendly Cities; activism in the field of children and efforts to pave the way for the realization of children's rights at the national and local levels; teaching in university as a Master; writing books, articles and translating articles in the field of non-governmental organizations, child trafficking, women; and being active in the field of non-governmental organizations.

Ms. Khadijeh Yari is an Associate expert, MOI center for information and international affairs. She is a PhD student in French language and literature and is working on her dissertation. For years, she has served as an expert and responsible in the bilateral and provincial departments of the international Bureau of the Ministry of interiors. She has active cooperation and participation in the development and preparation of instructions and internal regulations of the Ministry. She has experience in cooperating with some international and regional organization, such as JICA, UNDP, HRC, UNICEF, municipalities and urban diplomacy. You can find in her background some activities such as sports and valid domestic and international qualifications in the field of coaching, including European fitness documents (Ereps).

Ms. Huma Chughtai A Governance, Human Rights and Gender Specialist with over 30 years of professional standing. She has served in various key positions within the government as well as in the development sector. She has worked as a Lawyer, an internationally trained Legislative Researcher in the Parliament of Pakistan focusing on Sharia law, constitutional, legal, and judicial issues, women’s rights, and parliamentary practices; and, as a Governance, Human Rights and Gender Specialist in various key capacities with international organizations. She has been Senior Program Manager (national lead) in the UNWOMEN (2007-09), and Key Expert in CB-MoWD Project of GIZ. Ms. Chughtai has a unique and rich experience of working in arena of governance, including parliamentary, judicial, electoral and gender reform, women, peace and security, gender and energy, and human rights. Currently, Ms. Chughtai is working with Federal Judicial Academy Islamabad, as Director Programs/Permanent Faculty, where she introduced new disciplines particularly relevant to International Human Rights obligations and role of judiciary in their implementation. She has also served as the Technical Advisor to the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus in the Parliament of Pakistan where she brought to the attention of women parliamentarians their role in domestication of international human rights obligations, as well as their role in peace processes. Her significant knowledge about Sharia and international human rights law enables her to link and counter radical arguments that fuel extremism. She is a master trainer on CEDAW, Women Peace & Security, and Gender & Energy.

Ms. Afshan Tehseen is a dedicated development professional having more than 20 years of diversified experience in Social Development and human Rights. She also appears on media on the topics of International Relations, Human Rights, Child Protection, Women Empowerment! She is also a Youth Mentor. Her key areas of expertise are Gender and Development, Child Rights and Protection, Child Sexual Abuse, Child Protection in Emergencies, Diversion and Restorative Justice, Social Protection, Birth Registration, Communication for Development, Polio Eradication and Training and Capacity Building. She has worked with UNICEF, Save the Children-UK, International Action Aid, National Rural Support Programme. She had been member of South Asia regional network of Master Trainers from 2000-2004. She had been part of the team to steer Aasha Initiative on women harassment through the platform of ActionAid from 2001 -2004 in Pakistan. She had been member of the National network on the issue of Child Abuse from 2004-2008. She had been a focal point and coach nominated by save the children-UK London head office; to train the young professionals from Germany and Scotland on the issues is Role Model/Ambassador PAGE: Pakistan Alliance on Girls Education and nominated Mountain Ambassador for 2020 nominated by DEVCOM. She is also Regional Gender Champion for Regional Women Leadership Network established by UNODC. Currently she is serving as Chairperson of National Commission on Child Rights (NCRC) established by Govt. of Pakistan under the Act of NCRC 2017.

Mr. Tariq Malik is a police officer from Pakistan with about 30 years of experience involving both domestic law enforcement duties as well as numerous international assignments. He is currently serving as Assistant Director, Fugitive Investigative Support, at the Interpol General Secretariat, Lyon. Tariq has headed various directorates and wings in the Federal Investigations Agency in Pakistan including as the Additional Director General (Immigration) in which capacity he oversaw all investigations into cases of migrant smuggling and international human trafficking in Pakistan. He has commanded numerous police establishments and supported the planning and implementation of several police reform initiatives including on gender mainstreaming, organizational restructuring and information technology. He conceived and managed, for four years, Pakistan’s largest police technology project – the Punjab Police Integrated Command, Control and Communications Centre (now known as the Safe City Authority). Tariq has more than a decade’s experience in investigating and supporting the prosecution of serious violations of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and human rights law while serving at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (UNICTY), the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and other jurisdictions. He has testified in international trials including in the case against former Liberian President Charles Taylor. In 2018, Tariq Malik spearheaded the drafting, passage and enactment of Pakistan's ground-breaking national laws against human trafficking and migrant smuggling. He also drafted the amendments to the police law of Pakistan in 2013 and has contributed to many international indictments, policy papers, and legal and research briefs.

Ms. Jane Charles-Voltaire, Esq. is a Haitian American legal professional, who has dedicated her work and education to advancing human rights, community development, and environmental sustainability. She currently works as a Senior Program Officer for IAWJ’s international development programs, which support women judges and prosecutors in providing leadership on anti-trafficking initiatives, improving access to justice for vulnerable victims of domestic violence, promoting gender equality within courts, and demanding justice and accountability for sexual violence survivors. Jane covers programs and collaborative initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Before joining the IAWJ, Jane worked in Haiti for four years as local counsel, with a Haitian law firm, for the United States Agency for International Development in Haiti (USAID). In her role as local counsel, Jane collaborated with Haitian government officials, international organization representatives to ensure that USAID objectives are properly addressed in accomplishing joint projects in social housing, environmental management, public finance management and port development. In addition, Jane has extensive on the ground experience through her work in the non-profit sector, she worked for two years with Viva Rio, an innovative Brazilian non-profit organization, based in Port-au-Prince and implementing projects in the health, community security, education and environment sectors. Jane earned her B.A. in Romance Languages and Literature from Wesleyan University and her J.D. from Temple University's Beasley School of Law.

Ms. Ellie Bird-Lenawarunugu over a period of more than thirty years, Ellie served as a police officer in West Midlands and British Transport Police. For more than half of her career, Ellie worked in an environment where opportunities for women were limited, with little prospect for promotion, performing specialist roles or having an influential voice to bring about change. Landmarks in her career include being the first female officer to attain the ranks of superintendent, chief superintendent and Area Commander. As Operational Commander for London Underground worked on all major public and sporting events in London. As Director of Intelligence her responsibility spanned England, Scotland and Wales. Between 2010 and 2014 Ellie served as Commander for Scotland, establishing credibility in tackling sectarianism and Head of Transport Security for the Commonwealth Games. Despite an incredible career; it has been the years since retirement that have been some of the most informative and influential. Ellie has delivered consultancy services in Rwanda, Uganda, Egypt and Kenya advising on sexual and gender-based violence, protection of women and children in refugee settlement and the role of women in peace support. For the past three years Ellie has performed an advisory role with the Commonwealth Parliamentarian Association on human trafficking. Ellie is currently Strategic Policing Advisor based in Mogadishu. Her marriage to Stephen and establishing their home within the pastoralist Samburu community in rural Kenya is yet another transformation in her life.