Women’s Human Rights: From Global Declarations to Local Implementation

Author : Mahnaz Afkhami, Routledge

Introduction Since the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the effect of international conferences, laws, resolutions, and consequent documents on rights on the struggle for women’s human rights at regional, national, and local levels has been a matter of debate and controversy. In my view, they have been and…

Trespassing With Fatema

Author : Mahnaz Afkhami, Association for Middle East Women's Studies

Fatema and I began our work together in 1984 as contributors to Robin Morgan’s Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women’s Movement Anthology. She wrote the Morocco chapter and I, Iran’s. We stayed in touch through the Sisterhood Is Global Institute that Robin founded with the seventy writers of the book, but we did not meet…

1818 Society Bulletin-- Gender and Development

Author : The World Bank 1818 Society

The 1818 Society – an organization of former World Bank Group employees – hosted Mahnaz Afkhami as a guest speaker to discuss the progress of international conventions on the status of women.  “Looking ahead, the overall challenge is to reconstruct our 21st century society. Dr. Afkhami’s vision is that this can be achieved with both…

Radio Pooya Interview with Mahnaz Afkhami (In Persian)

Author : Shahrnush Parsipur, Radio Pooya

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…

Challenging the Architecture of Human Relations

Author : Open Democracy

In an interview with openDemocracy, Mahnaz Afkhami discusses the role of transnational women’s networks in promoting women’s rights around the globe.  “We decided to establish a transnational women’s organization that focused on finding ways to dent if not immediately change this “architecture of human relations,” the way people relate to each other, make choices, and…

CNN's Amanpour: Panel Discussion with Activists on Women's Rights in the Middle East

Author : Christiane Amanpour, CNN

For International Women’s Day, Mahnaz Afkhami is interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on a panel of women’s rights activists. Afkhami discusses the importance of including women in political positions, the progress made in the Middle East, and hope for the future. Afkhami states: “There are many, many more women in power, in politics, in high-value…

BBC Persian TV Hard Talk [Be Ebarate Digar]: An Interview with Mahnaz Afkhami

Author : BBC Persian

BBC Persian TV’s Enayat Fani interviews Mahnaz Afkhami who looks back on the advancing of women’s rights in Iran, elaborating on the Family Protection Law. “Iran’s Family Protection Law which was ratified some forty years ago is still far ahead of the laws of other Middle Eastern countries,” says Afkhami, adding that the first thing…