Student Projects

Nahid Paiman, Class of 2015

During the summer of 2013 I visited my homeland of Afghanistan. While in Kabul, I interned at the National Democratic Institute (NDI). There, I worked with coalitions, sub national governance, various political parties, politicians and activists, and prepared for the upcoming 2014 elections. Women’s Political Participation (WPP) Team at NDI plays an important role within the organization and there I worked on Afghanistan’s current politics and most importantly the women’s participation in the upcoming elections. We held workshops to train various coalitions and political parties about elections. We aided with the campaign for potential female candidates in the upcoming elections. Because human rights of Afghan women are categorized after Islamic values, female Afghan politicians do not have a strong voice in Afghanistan’s politics and it takes longer for Afghan women to gain importance and strong positions in society. Afghan people desire peaceful and transparent elections in 2014 in hopes that it will positively shape Afghanistan’s future.