Our Keynote Forum is a unique and innovative method which we hope to trial at the conference. The forum will feature leaders in Afghanistan’s diaspora community, and their thoughts and views on how we can build diaspora capability, as well as explain what this means in practice.

Our President’s Forum will consist of:

Adin Rasheedi – Executive Director, Afghan Student Union
Tahmena Joyan – President, SOAS Afghanistan Society
Asma Laali – UCL Afghanistan Society

The questions the forum aims to answer are:

What is the diaspora?
How is the diaspora formed?
How has the diaspora changed over generations?
What is the current state of the diaspora, in your view?
What is the diaspora healing from?
Why is it important to heal?
How do we heal the diaspora?

This panel aims to unpack how we can begin (if we have not already) to create a community that can form a collective identity. This panel will be moderated by Sahar Rabbani, a student of BA Politics at King’s College London.

Our panel speakers will be:

Bismellah Alizada – PhD Candidate, SOAS University of London
Dr Hosna Sherzai – Medical Doctor at NHS England and Co-Founder & Outgoing Trustee, Afghan Charity Week
Abdullah Alwad – Macroeconomist at HM Treasury and Trustee, Afghan Student Union
Madina Mujadidi – Legal Analyst Lead at Luminance and Trustee, Afghan Student Union

The panel aims to answer the following questions:

To what extent is it possible to form a unified diaspora community, given: (a) the lack of existing frameworks to support the Afghan diaspora (b) the diversity of the diaspora population

How would the formation of a unified diaspora community come about?

What key features should the Afghan diaspora devote time to implementing in order to facilitate a successfully integrated and united community?

This panel hopes to provide the community with a more in-depth understanding of the impacts that generational trauma has had on many people who have come from Afghanistan, or were born here in the UK, and how these traumas have impacted relationships and the wider community. Our moderator for this panel will be Tahmena Joyan (Director of Operations, Afghan Student Union).

The panel will last for 2 hours (with a halfway break) and will provide an in-depth discussion. Throughout both days of the conference we will have dedicated physical and mental health first aiders on site, as well as a dedicated wellbeing room which guests can use at any point. We aim to foster a safe environment where participants feel encouraged to discuss their viewpoints and be heard. The panel will be moderated with Team AfSU members on site to ensure participant safety.

Our panel speakers will be:

Dr Avesta Panahi – Counselling Psychologist, Amna
Khaleda Ahmadyar – Behavioural Psychologist, OPEN Health

The topics of discussion will include:

An introduction on generational and collective trauma within the diaspora

Pre-migration traumas and post-migration stressors

Impact of 40 years of war on first generation refugees and trickling effects on following generations.

How can spiritual treatment help support our community?

How can we overcome weak community knowledge and barriers to treatment in our community?

This roundtable discussion aims to encourage participants to take in what they have learnt over Day 1 and to provide their opinions and views on why we should build diaspora capability.

This event will feature Marjaan Aman and Asma Laali as its moderators. They will ask the audience questions, and then steer the conversation based on audience responses to foster constructive debates and knowledge sharing. Participants will have a chance to hear from one another, and form groups/friendships during the event.

This event will be held in Bush House Lecture Theatre 1, a state of the art Harvard style lecture theatre with microphones on the desks which participants will be able to utilise during the discussions. The key questions we hope to answer are:

What purposes do the diaspora serve?

Why should we be integrated as a single unit, rather than as fragmented parts?

What common factors should the diaspora rally around?

This panel explores our responsibility for bringing the community together, and how we begin to form this creation practically. Our panelists will discuss how they envision strengthening ties within the Afghan community and how we will equip younger generations with skills to maintain and build upon this capability. This panel will be moderated by Marjaan Aman (Operations Officer, Afghan Student Union).

Our panel speakers are:

Munazza Ebtikar – PhD Candidate, University of Oxford
Dr Zulfia Abawe – Lecturer, University of South Wales
Fatima Naimi – Senior Consultant, Storm6 and Chair of Board of Trustees, Afghan Charity Week
Fereshta Abbasi – Researcher, Human Rights Watch

The key questions we hope to answer are:

How, and why, are we responsible for helping our diaspora community become more capable?

How do we, as a community, create and shape dialogue that supports our peers?

Should we take inspiration from efforts made by other diasporas or does the unique history and culture of the Afghan community outside of Afghanistan mean we need a different approach?

This roundtable discussion aims to encourage participants to take in what they have learnt over Day 1/2 and to provide their opinions and views on how we should build diaspora capability.

This event will feature Adin Rasheedi and Tahmena Joyan as its moderators. They will ask the audience questions, and then steer the conversation based on audience responses to foster constructive debates and knowledge sharing. Participants will have a chance to hear from one another, and form groups/friendships during the event.

This event will be held in Bush House Lecture Theatre 1, a state of the art Harvard style lecture theatre with microphones on the desks which participants will be able to utilise during the discussions. The key questions we hope to answer are:

What does a model diaspora community look like to you?

How would we set up a diaspora community that actively stays in touch?

How do we monitor and hold this community to account for its actions?

What have other diaspora communities engaged in that we can take lessons from?

This panel explores how we could formalise institutions or support systems that can continue to look over and ensure the diaspora is retaining, or forming its newfound, sense of community.

Institutions will prove important in encapsulating continued connections and networks between the Afghan diaspora, allowing for collective success and meaningfully assisted discussion on the pertinent topics facing Afghans. This panel will be moderated by Elias Baluch, Vice President of the King’s College London Afghanistan Think Tank.

Our panel speakers are:

Aqlima Amiri – Former Lecturer, Kabul University and MSc Environmental Sciences Student at Imperial College London
Nelufar Hedayat – EMMY Award-Winning Journalist
Roya Saberzada – Journalist, Afghanistan International Television
Shaira Karimi – Geopolitical Analyst, Tony Blair Institute

The key questions we hope to answer are:

How do we institutionalize diaspora support?

How can the UK support the diaspora from Afghanistan in feeling more integrated and providing them with a platform to voice their opinions and discussions on current affairs?

Our panellists will draw on their backgrounds, experiences, and any key areas institutions should specifically cover to maintain a consistently positive experience across the diaspora.

This event will feature our final keynote speaker who will discuss a summary of the conference’s main findings and aims, and present their view on what the future of Afghanistan’s diaspora looks like.

Our final keynote speaker will be Manizja Latifi, Clerk to Lord Justice Fraser, Barrister, and Trustee-elect at the Afghan Student Union.