After spending time in hiding, she now lives in Canada, but she has not left activism behind. From her new home, she founded HerStory, an organization dedicated to documenting the experiences of girls both within Afghanistan and in the diaspora.
“I do my best to tell the stories of girls who have been banned from going to school. I was able to graduate but my friends are still stuck in time in the ninth grade. It’s emotional work, but I think if it motivates just one person to do something, then I think I’ve done enough.”
Active partners in peace
Ms Ibrahimi spoke to UN News at an event held on 15 December to mark the 10th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 2250, which formally recognizes young people as active partners in maintaining and promoting international peace and security.
Approximately half of the people on the planet are under 30 years old, making them the generation with the most at stake in our common future. Yet they are often excluded from the spaces where solutions to our most difficult problems are shaped.
Since the resolution’s adoption, the UN has supported a number of initiatives that implement the recommendations it contains. For example, the The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia and Honduras developed national and local action plans for Youth, Peace and Security (YPS); the African Union held the first continental-level dialogue on YPS, culminating in the Bujumbura Declaration; and 11 countries, from Africa to the Middle East, Asia and Europe, have so far enacted YPS action plans that are aligned with Resolution 2250.
Afghanistan, still ruled by the Taliban, is not one of them. However, Ibrahimi, who has often felt like she is carving a lonely path, remains undaunted and dedicated to continuing the fight for women’s rights.
“It really caught my attention, at the conference, to be in the same room as some people I would never have had the opportunity to meet and learn about the ways they have implemented strategies to empower youth in their countries,” he reflects. “Just being in their presence has been a great privilege and an opportunity not only to speak about my own story and raise the voices of Afghan women, but also to learn from others.”
Act now for peace
The events of December 15 culminated in a Peace Circle, which included Ms. Ibrahimi, several other young leaders and senior United Nations officials, diplomats and academics. Peace Circles emerged from a major UN initiative, as part of the flagship Act Now campaign. They are informal dialogues on peace-related topics, which could cover topics as broad as education, gender equality, climate and technology. At least half of the participants must be under 30 years old, with an emphasis on young people who are often not at the table and new to UN spaces.
The Act Now for Peace campaign will run until September 2026, and discussions held in Peace Circles will directly feed into a number of UN projects, including the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Study on the contributions of young people to peace and a Global Youth Peace Manifesto.
Find detailed information on how to set up a Peace Circle here.