Dr. Farkhondeh Akbari is a Research Fellow at Monash University’s ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) in Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on the roles of diplomatic actors in peace settlement negotiations with non-state armed groups. She has worked at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and Afghanistan’s Independent Directorate of Local Governance in Kabul. As an activist, Farkhondeh applies her research to champion the rights of women, girls, and minority communities in Afghanistan.