Afghan female activist, parliament member to speak at WWU Nov. 12

Malalai Joya, member of the Afghan Parliament and a crusader for civil rights in her homeland, will be the guest speaker in the World Issues Forum of Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at noon on Thursday, Nov. 12, in Arntzen 100 on the WWU campus.

Joya will discuss her new book, “A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of the Afghan Woman Who Dares to Speak Out” (2009), which provides a true picture of young Afghans living in a country at war, the troubles of refugee camps, and the feelings of these people towards those warlords who are once again ruling Afghanistan and not giving the new generation of Afghanis a chance to come forward and control their own collective destiny.

Joya is a 30-year-old Member of the Afghan Parliament. She was elected to the 249-seat National Assembly, or Wolesi Jirga, in September 2005 as a representative of Farah Province. She rose to fame in 2003 when, as an elected delegate to the Constitutional Loya Jirga, she spoke out publicly against the domination of warlords; since then she has survived four assassination attempts and travels in Afghanistan wearing a traditional burqa, surrounded by armed guards.

She is the daughter of a former medical student who was wounded while fighting against the Soviet Union (which invaded and occupied Afghanistan from 1979-1989). Joya was 4 years old when her family fled Afghanistan in 1982 to the refugee camps of Iran and then Pakistan. She finished her education in Pakistan and began teaching literacy courses to other women at age 19. After the Soviets left, Joya returned to Afghanistan in 1998 during the Taliban's reign. During that time she established an orphanage and health clinic, and was soon a vocal opponent of the Taliban.

Joya heads the non-governmental group, "Organisation for Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities" (OPAWC). She is married to a Kabul-based student of agriculture and has six sisters and three brothers. This lecture in Fairhaven’s World Issues Forum speaker series is co-sponsored by  Veterans For Peace Chapter 111 and the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center.

For more information, contact Shirley Osterhaus at (360) 650-2309 or shirley.osterhaus@wwu.edu.