Fragile Freedom with Dr. Suhailah Akbari

The Taliban in Afghanistan are denying girls and women access to education and science. Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, the security situation for female researchers deteriorated dramatically. Dr. Suhailah Akbari, a legal scholar, was also directly threatened and had to leave the country with her two daughters. After days of uncertainty and fear at Kabul airport, she managed to escape to Germany with the help of the German military, where she found refuge.

Today, with the support of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, she conducts research at the Humboldt University in Berlin on the legal framework for climate change policy and the trade of clean energy. In addition to her academic work, Akbari advocates for academic freedom and the rights of Afghan women and researchers. She is the co-founder and member of Board of Directors of the Institute for Law and Society in Afghanistan (ILSAF).

In the live podcast "Fragile Freedom," Akbari speaks at the Humboldt University during the Berlin Science Week about her experiences of losing freedom, her escape from Afghanistan, and the importance of academic freedom. The event is free of charge and held in English.

"Fragile Freedom" creates an opportunity for dialogue with researchers in exile. Their personal stories aim to raise awareness of the challenges facing academic freedom and highlight the importance of free science and education for democracy. The core of the project consists of five public dialogue events with refugee researchers at their host universities. The conversations are then published as podcasts.

This event is organized by the science communication agency con gressa in cooperation with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Humboldt University Berlin and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the “Science Year 2024 – Freedom.”