In the News
Mahnaz Afkhami has been featured in the news in print media, social media, and on television and radio.
This is a work in progress and content will be added when it becomes available.
Last Female Minister: Khomeini Introduced the Sexual Apartheid, but Iranian Women Are Successfully Fighting Against It
In an interview with Croatian magazine, Tportal, Mahnaz Afkami speaks about the women who participated in the Arab Spring, progress made on women’s rights in Iran, and her broad knowledge of Iran and the Islamic world.
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Vibrant Networking Keeps the Door Open for Arab Women
Women in Egypt played an instrumental role in the political uprising and fight for democracy during the Arab Spring. This article highlights the influence and solidarity of women’s networks across the region. “Mahnaz Afkhami, the Iranian-American founder and president of the Women’s Learning Partnership, has a network of contacts in Egypt now following constitutional developments and the rights and roles of women there. The organization publishes a fact sheet on women in the Arab Spring, outlining the setbacks to their rights under the influence of Islamic political parties”
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Reader’s Review: Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
Diane Rehm hosted Mahnaz Afkahmi on her radio show to discuss the book, Woman at Point Zero, by Nawal El Saadawi, a story of a woman in Egypt who is forced into prostitution and later arrested. Afkhami discusses the novel’s contribution to radical feminism in the region, women’s rights and the patriarchy, and the relevance of the work to women today.
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Will Washington Push for Women’s Rights?
Despite hope and change in the Middle East following the Arab Spring, many remain cautious regarding progress on women’s rights in the region. In an article with political news journal, Al Majalla, Mahnaz Afkhami stresses the importance of movement building and collaboration between women’s rights activists at the grassroots level.
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Radio Pooya Interview with Mahnaz Afkhami (In Persian)
At this interview conducted by Iranian novelist Shahrnush Parsipur, Mahnaz Afkhami recounts her life story, starting from the time she taught English literature at the National University of Iran, trying to “help create a cohesive community of female students who could face the modern world” to the time when she set up Women’s Learning Partnership in the U.S. which cooperates with 20 partners in 20 countries, “teaching women how to gain independence, manage their lives and become leaders in their communities.”
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VOA Extended Profile: Historical Context for The Women’s Movement in Iran, and the life and work of Mahnaz Afkhami
The half hour video produced by VOA provides the historical context for the women’s movement in Iran, focusing on the life and work of Mahnaz Afkhami. The biopic covers her ten-year tenure as the Secretary General of the Women’s Organization of Iran and her three years in the Iranian cabinet as the first Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Middle East and North Africa Region, examining the achievements of women during this period while presenting a portrait of Afkhami as wife, sister, mother, and grandmother.
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Iranian New Year 2013: Celebrate These Persian Women Who Have Fought For Equality
In honor of the Iranian New Year, Mic celebrates Mahnaz Afkhami and other Persian women who have fought for equality.
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The Cyrus Cylinder Exhibit: A VOA Documentary
The VOA documentary on the occasion of the exhibition of The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art features Mahnaz Afkhami, along with other scholars, who weigh in on the importance of this exhibition, especially during the existing tension between Iran and the U.S. Afkhami notes that the Cyrus Cylinder “raises awareness about Iran’s glorious history and the fact that the first document in the world which addresses human rights belongs to an Iranian ruler.”
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At the UN, Twenty Years of Backlash to ‘Women’s Rights Are Human Rights’
Since the seminal Cairo Conference in 1994, anti-feminist actors have pushed back against progress made in women’s rights on the global stage. In The Nation, Mahnaz Afkhami provides insights into the rise of fundamentalist, conservative, and populist movements that are fueling this backlash, and illuminates the role of American wars in the Middle East in perpetuating these trends.
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Are Women Leaders Less Corrupt, No But They Shake Things Up
In an article on women’s participation in politics, Mahnaz Afkhami discusses her experience as Minister for Women’s Affairs in Iran. “‘There is a direct relationship between the level of democracy and the presentation of women in leadership and the quality of governance,’ said Afkhami.”
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