Honourable Chair and distinguished members, thank you for this opportunity.
My name is Ghazaal Habibyar and I'm originally from Afghanistan. I have worked on governance, development and women's rights issues. Today, I represent Resilient Societies, a Canadian-based organization that supports human rights defenders in Canada and abroad.
I also speak from personal experience. I was a young girl during the first Taliban regime in 1996 when education was banned and we were denied basic freedoms. Despite those barriers, I also served as one of four women in the Afghan cabinet, as acting minister of mines and petroleum. Today, I live in exile because of my work in government and advocacy for women's rights and democracy.
I'll focus my remarks today specifically on challenges facing women human rights defenders.
In Afghanistan today, Afghan women and women human rights defenders face what can only be described as gender apartheid. Their challenges are real.
First, they face acute personal risk. Women defenders face arrest, intimidation, disappearances and targeted harassment, with no protection or access to justice.
Second is the dismantling of civic spaces. Women are excluded from public life and girls are denied education, cutting off both current participation and future leadership.
Third, as civic spaces close, recording abuse and violence becomes very dangerous—yet is very critical.
Canada's support for the Afghan women's case, under CEDAW, has been crucial. We hope to see it sustained and extended to similar contexts.
Across Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar, Iran, Syria and many other countries, we see a clear pattern. Repressive systems are not only targeting political opposition; they are systematically targeting women who lead resistance. This reflects a broader global rollback of rights, in which repression is increasingly normalized and has become transnational, unfortunately.
Last week, Ottawa hosted nearly 400 leaders at the inaugural Ottawa Civic Space Summit, highlighting that protecting civic space and amplifying frontline voices is key to resilience in Canada and globally.
Canada can lead by strengthening support, especially for women human rights defenders, through protection, documentation and pathways of continued civic engagement.
Thank you very much.
I look forward to your questions.