Afghanistan in focus: Human rights, research and possibilities for change

Nov 9, 2026 — 2:15 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) is pleased partner with the Joint Chair in Feminist and Gender Studies (University of Ottawa and Carleton University), the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies and the School of International Development and Global Studies (University of Ottawa), the Bachelor of Global and International Studies (Carleton University), and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights to present this event:

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Afghanistan in focus: Human rights, research and possibilities for change

How can Canadian universities deepen their engagement with Afghanistan’s human rights crisis, particularly violations of women’s and girls’ rights?

Bringing together international human rights monitoring, feminist advocacy, and Afghan scholarship and experience, the speakers will examine the crisis, efforts to advance accountability, and questions that demand further study.

The event aims to deepen understanding of human rights violations in Afghanistan and encourage sustained academic engagement. Students, researchers, and the wider university community are invited to explore how research, writing, teaching, and collaboration with Afghan scholars and communities can contribute to knowledge, public debate, and possibilities for change.

Speakers

Richard Bennett
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan

Amanda Dale
Fellow, Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) and Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa, and elected member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for 2027–2030

Shabnam Salehi
Community Member, Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC), Ph.D. Candidate, Carleton University and former Women's Rights Commissioner of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)

Ghazaal Habibyar | Moderator
Women’s rights advocate and Ph.D. candidate in Gender and Feminist Studies, University of Ottawa

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About Richard Bennett

Mr. Bennett has served in Afghanistan on several occasions in different capacities including as the Chief of the Human Rights Service with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). He has previously played a role in the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan and supported the United Nations on a number of human rights issues, such as protection of civilians, transitional justice, child rights, rule of law, rights of people with disabilities, protection of human rights defenders and a range of economic, social and cultural rights.

Mr. Bennett also served with the United Nations as the Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and head of the human rights components of peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, and South Sudan as well as twice in Afghanistan (2003-07 and 2018-19). He has been a long-term adviser to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Bennett was the Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal and head of OHCHR’s office there. He has also been Chief of Staff for the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka and Special Adviser to the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights in New York.

Mr. Bennett worked for Amnesty International from 2014 – 17 initially as its Asia-Pacific Program Director and later as head of Amnesty’s United Nations Office in New York. From mid-2019, he worked as a consultant on UN human rights assignments in Afghanistan, Myanmar and New York.

Mr. Bennett is currently a visiting professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Lund, Sweden, and is affiliated with The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.