Mahnaz Afkhami

Mahnaz Afkhami
Born	1941 Kerman, Iran
Education	University of Colorado, M.A.
Occupation	Human rights activist
Spouse	Gholam Reza Afkhami

Mahnaz Afkhami (مهناز افخمی) , is Founder and President of Women's Learning Partnership (WLP). She is also the Executive Director of Foundation for Iranian Studies and former Minister of Women's Affairs of Iran.^[1] She founded the Association of Iranian University Women and served as Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran prior to the Islamic revolution.

Living in exile in the United States, Afkhami has been an advocate of women's rights for more than three decades,^[2] having founded and headed several international non-governmental organizations^[3] focused on advancing the status of women. Afkhami has lectured and published extensively on the international women’s movement, women's human rights, women in leadership, women and technology, and women's participation in civil society building and democratization. Her books have been translated in multiple languages and distributed internationally.^[4][5]

Biography^[6]

Early Years

Afkhami was born in 1941 in Kerman.^[7] She was the eldest of three children.

She grew up in the large mansion of her grandparents with 20 to 30 members of her extended family. On her father's side, Afkhami belongs to the Qajar royal family and the Sheikhi branch of Shi'ite Islam. When Afkhami was eleven, her mother, Ferdows Naficy,^[8] separated from her father.

In 1955 Afkhami came to the United States with her mother, first in Seattle and San Francisco, and later in Boulder, Colorado, where she received an MA.

She married at 17 and raised a son.

Initial Activism

By the age of 17, she had joined a trade union and successfully challenged a breach of her rights as a worker when her employer had temporarily laid her off to avoid giving her a Christmas bonus.^[6] She credits this incident with giving her the belief that organizing could bring about social change.

In 1967 Mahnaz returned to Iran as a professor of literature at the National University of Iran. Two years later she became chair of the Department of English. She founded the Association of University Women^[9] and was drawn into Iran's women's movement. In 1970 she became the secretary general of the Women's Organization of Iran (WOI).^[10] She remained at the head of the WOI for ten years during which she worked for Iranian women's rights^[6]

Politics

In 1975, she was asked to join the cabinet of the Iranian government and became Minister for Women's Affairs.^[1] The post had not existed in Iran before; the only other person in the world to hold that position was Françoise Giroud of France.

At the same time, her sister was a leader in the students' movement, demonstrating for the overthrow of the Shah.

During her time as Minister of Women's Affairs, Iran's legislation granted women equal rights to divorce, raised the minimum age of marriage for girls, support women's employment with maternity leave and childcare provision, and built upon the family laws of 1967.^[6][11]

Afkhami has served as a member of Iran's High Council of Family Planning and Welfare, the board of trustees of Kerman University, and the board of trustees of Farah University for Women.^[12]

Post-Revolution Activism

Afkhami was in New York negotiating with the United Nations when the Islamic Revolution broke out in Iran. She never returned, and has lived in exile since,^[13] although she has said she would like to return to help rebuild Iran if its political system changed.^[8]

In 1981, the Foundation for Iranian Studies was established with an endowment^[14] from Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, the twin sister of the Shah of Iran, and with the intent of preserving Iran's heritage. Afkhami remains the foundation's Executive Director to this day.

She then joined the international women's rights movement, becoming an advisor to Human Rights Watch, and vice-president, executive director and president to Sisterhood Is Global Institute.^[15] In 2000 she founded the Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace (WLP), an international, non-governmental organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with United Nations' ECOSOC.^[16] She is currently WLP's President.^[17]

Afkhami is also co-chair of the Women Leaders Intercultural Forum^[18] and the Global Women’s Action Network for Children.^[19] She serves on the boards and steering committees of a number of international organizations including Global Fund for Women,^[20] International Museum of Women,^[21] Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, Women's Human Rights Net, Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch,^[22] and World Movement for Democracy.^[23]

Afkhami has published a large number of articles and books, with a particular focus on women's human rights, Muslim women, as well as the Iranian women's movement. She has also publicly supported the Iranian One Milion Signatures campaign by promoting a book written by Iranian activist Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani on the campaign to end discriminatory laws against women.^[24]

Personal life

She is married to Gholam Reza Afkhami. Together they have a son and two grand-children. She resides in Maryland, USA.

Chronology Summary

• 2000– Present Founder and President of Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace
• 1981–Present Founder and Executive Director of Foundation for Iranian Studies
• 1996–1999 President of Sisterhood Is Global Institute
• 1992–1996 Executive Director of Sisterhood Is Global Institute
• 1989–1996 Vice-President of Sisterhood Is Global Institute
• 1979–1981 Consultant on Women and Development, Palo Alto, California
• 1976–1978 Minister for Women's Affairs, Government of Iran
• 1970–1979 Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran
• 1968–1970 Chairman, English Department, National University of Iran
• 1967–1968 Assistant Professor, Department of English, National University of Iran
• 1966–1967 Lecturer, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado
• 1965–1966 Assistant Editor, Abstracts of English Studies, Boulder, Colorado

Bibliography

• Toward a Compassionate Society, edited, Women’s Learning Partnership, Bethesda, MD, 2002.

• Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women, co-authored, Women’s Learning Partnership, Bethesda, MD, 2001.

• Safe and Secure: Eliminating Violence Against Women in Muslim Societies, co-authored, Sisterhood Is Global Institute, Bethesda, MD, 1998.

• Muslim Women and The Politics of Participation, co-edited with Erika Friedl, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 1997.

• Claiming Our Rights: A Manual for Women’s Human Rights Education in Muslim Societies, co-authored with Haleh Vaziri, Sisterhood Is Global Institute, Bethesda, MD, 1996.

• Faith and Freedom: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World, Syracuse University Press and I.B. Tauris, 1995.

• Women and the Law in Iran (1967–1978), a compilation with introduction, Women's Center of the Foundation for Iranian Studies, 1994 (in Persian).

• Women in Exile, The University Press of Virginia, 1994.

• In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Postrevolutionary Iran, edited with Erika Friedl, Syracuse University Press and I.B. Tauris, 1994.

• Iran: A PreCollegiate Handbook, with Charlotte Albright, the Foundation for Iranian Studies, 1992

• Notes on the Curriculum and Materials for a Women's Studies Program for Iranian University Women, Tehran, 1978. Manuscript prepared for the Women's Organization of Iran Center for Research on Women.

• Iran's National Plan of Action for Integration of Women in Development: Theory, Structure and Implementation, Manuscript prepared for the Women's Organization of Iran, Center for Research on Women, Tehran, 1978.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Jecks, Nicki (August 19, 2009). "'I Was Iran's Last Minister'". BBC World Service. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8207371.stm. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
2. ^ Latham, Judith (June 11, 2008). "Women’s Learning Partnership’s Goal Is to Empower Women, Says President of the Organization". VOA News. http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-06-09-voa41.html. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
3. ^ Hill, Mary Ann (April 5, 2005). "International Women’s Rights Advocate Mahnaz Afkhami to Speak at Wellesley College April 6". Wellesley College Office for Public Affairs. http://www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Releases/2005/040505.html. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
4. ^ "Mahnaz Afkhami - Iran". World People's Blog. http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/494. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
5. ^ "Leading To Choices Manuals". Women's Learning Partnership. http://www.learningpartnership.org/publications/training/ltc. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Afkhami, Gholam Reza (2003). Zanun-e Iran, 1357-1342: Mosahebeh ba Mahnaz Afkhami (Women, State, and Society in Iran 1963-1978: An Interview with Mahnaz Afkhami). Bethesda, MD: Foundation for Iranian Studies. 
7. ^ Death of The Patriarch in Remembering Childhood in the Middle East, Elizabeth Fernea (ed.), University of Texas Press (2002
8. ^ ^{a b} "Destination America: Mahnaz Afkhami & Farah Ebrahimi: Iran". PBS. October 1, 2005. http://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/ps_ctn_02.html#. Retrieved April 23, 2010. 
9. ^ At the Crossroads of Tradition & Modernity: Personal Reflection in SAIS Review - Volume 20, Number 2, Summer-Fall 2000, pp. 85-92
10. ^ Hansen, Liane (August 23, 2009). "Executed But Not Forgotten: Iran's Farrokhroo Parsay". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112150486. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
11. ^ Ahmadi Khorasani, Noushin (October 14, 2008). "The Fate of the Family Protection Law". The Feminist School. http://feministschool.org/english/spip.php?article158. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
12. ^ "Special Meeting of Women Ministers of Culture: Keynote Speaker Biography". Special Meeting of Women Ministers of Culture - Reykjavik 2005. http://womenministers.government.is/Programme//nr/3236. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
13. ^ Afkhami, Mahnaz (1994). Women In Exile. The University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0813915432. http://www.learningpartnership.org/mafkhami2/1994/women-in-exile/. 
14. ^ "Board of Trustees". Foundation for Iranian Studies. http://www.fis-iran.org/en/about/trustees. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
15. ^ "About The Sisterhood Is Global Institute". Sisterhood Is Global Institute. http://sigi.org/about.html. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
16. ^ "About". Women's Learning Partnership. http://www.learningpartnership.org/en/about. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
17. ^ "Board and Advisors". Women's Learning Partnership. http://www.learningpartnership.org/en/about/board. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
18. ^ "Women Leaders Intercultural Forum Addresses Global Security". Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. October 26, 2006. http://www.realizingrights.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=217. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
19. ^ "The Global Women's Action Network for Children". Children's Defense Fund. http://cdf.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=gwanc_home. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
20. ^ "Global Fund for Women - Consejeras". Global Fund for Women. http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/cms/spanish/consejeras.html. Retrieved 2010-04-22. ^{[dead link]}
21. ^ "Global Council - International Museum of Women". International Museum of Women. http://www.imow.org/about/globalcouncil/index. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
22. ^ "Human Rights Watch: Board of Directors". Human Rights Watch. http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76172#_Women%27s_Rights. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
23. ^ "Steering Committee World Movement for Democracy". World Movement for Democracy. http://www.wmd.org/about/steering-committee. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
24. ^ Latham, Judith (December 11, 2009). "Iranian Women Campaign to End Discriminatory Laws Against Them". VOA News. http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/news-analysis/Iranian-Women-Campaign-to-End-Discriminatory-Laws-against-Them-79052162.html. Retrieved April 23, 2010. 

External links

• Official website

Persondata
Name	Afkhami, Mahnaz
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1941
Place of birth	Kerman, Iran
Date of death
Place of death