The women of Afghanistan were awarded the Chatham House Prize 2026 at a ceremony on Monday 9 November.
Chatham House recognised the women of Afghanistan for their courage and resilience in the face of systematic gender persecution by the Taliban, and for their determination to defend the rights and futures of women and girls.
Speaking on a panel that brought together women from the Afghan diaspora, Zahra Joya, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Rukhshana Media, said the prize ‘sends a powerful message that the world will not forget about us. They will listen to us. They will see our strength and power’.
In a conversation with BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, who moderated the panel, former Chatham House Academy Associate Shaharzad Akbar, said that for girls denied an education in Afghanistan, the Chatham House Prize shows them ‘they are being remembered, that they are not forgotten’. That, she said, ‘gives them courage’.
Dr Orzala Nemat, the founder and director of Development Research Group LTD, highlighted the voices of the women humanitarian aid workers with whom she collaborates, who asked that the audience help to ‘continue to raise our voices for girls’ education, continue to raise our voices for our right to work’.
Fawzia Koofi, former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Afghanistan and President of the Board of Women for Afghanistan, said the Taliban practised double standards in prohibiting girls from accessing secondary and higher education. ‘They have modernized themselves for their own daughters, not for our girls. Their own daughters go to school, university, probably the best universities in the world, but our daughters are confined,’ she said.
Assessing the international community’s engagement with Afghanistan, specifically the UK’s halt on issuing study visas to nationals from certain countries including Afghanistan, Dr Benafsha Yaqoobi, founder and director of The Rahyab Initiative, said the ‘world has failed us in fulfilling their responsibility towards Afghanistan’.
The Chatham House Prize is awarded to the person, persons, or organization deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations.
In her opening remarks, Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive of Chatham House, said of the women of Afghanistan: ‘They have forced governments to ask what recognition of the Taliban would mean and on whose terms. They remind us that how a state treats women is not a domestic matter. It is a measure of whether that state can be trusted at all.’
On behalf of the women of Afghanistan, the award was accepted by Elaha Safdari, goalkeeper for the Afghanistan’s women’s national football team.
The Prize was presented to her by Chatham House’s president, The Rt Hon Baroness May of Maidenhead, who praised the women of Afghanistan for continuing to speak out and stated: ‘This award belongs to all of them, to every single one of them. But it is also a reminder, and we have heard this from our panel today, of our collective responsibility. We cannot allow the situation facing Afghan women and girls to fade from the international attention.’
Elaha, who had to leave Afghanistan for the UK when the Taliban returned to power in 2021, thanked the UK government and the sports organisation Girl Power, for supporting her. She told the audience: ‘Becoming a refugee was never my dream. Leaving Afghanistan meant leaving behind my home, my friends, my teammates, my family.’ She added that football and the work of Girl Power enabled women to be visible. Elaha highlighted there is much work to be done to advance the rights of women in Afghanistan. ‘There are girls who simply want to go to school, play sport, and decide what their futures will look like,’ she said.
The evening ended with a film that featured contributions from broadcaster Yalda Hakim, the UN’s Susan Ferguson and activist Onaba Payab. The interviews were weaved around personal reflections from women living in Afghanistan, whose words, for their safety, were read out by Dr Orzala Nemat.
A women’s activist said: ‘The international community must recognize that support for Afghan women cannot be episodic or symbolic – it requires sustained engagement, listening to local voices, and holding leaders accountable, all parties.’ A teacher and education activist said of young girls in Afghanistan facing extreme obstacles to education: ‘I hope audiences remember not only their courage but also the urgent need to ensure that every girl has the freedom, safety and opportunity to learn’.
The Chatham House Prize 2026 is supported by Axel Hansing and the International Organization for Migration.