:Shabnam Nasimi
{{Short description|British-Afghan social activist, political commentator (born 1991)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shabnam Nasimi
| image = Shabnamnasimi.jpg
| caption = Nasimi in 2022
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1991|2|16}}
| birth_place = Kabul, Afghanistan
| nationality = British
| education = University of Law
| alma_mater = Open University, Birkbeck, University of London
| website = {{URL|https://shabnamnasimi.co.uk}}
}}
Shabnam Nasimi ({{langx|fa|شبنم نسیمی}} {{pronunciation|Shabnam_Nasimi_pronunciation_in_Farsi.wav}}; born 16 February 1991) is a British-Afghan social activist, writer, and political commentator. She served as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister for Afghan Resettlement, Victoria Atkins MP, and to the Minister for Refugees, Lord Harrington. A member of the Conservative Party, she is also the co-founder and CEO of the Friends of Afghan Women Network (FAWN), launched alongside journalist Sarah Sands to support Afghan women through advocacy, mentorship, and strategic partnerships.
Early life and education
Nasimi arrived in the United Kingdom in 1999 with her family, fleeing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. They settled in South London as asylum seekers with no English language skills and limited resources. Her father, Nooralhaq Nasimi, earned a PhD in Law in the former Soviet Union and later founded the Afghanistan & Central Asian Association (ACAA), a UK-based refugee support charity. He was awarded an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to refugees.{{cite web | url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4247143 | title=Nooralhaq NASIMI | publisher=The Gazette }}
Nasimi was educated at St Saviour's and St Olave's Church of England School before pursuing a Law degree at the Open University and completing an MSc in Global Governance and International Security at Birkbeck, University of London. She spent part of her early childhood in Ukraine.
Career and public work
Nasimi was appointed Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister for Afghan Resettlement in November 2021 and to the Minister for Refugees in February 2022.{{cite web | url=https://twitter.com/luhc/status/1505514501663248391 | title=Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on Twitter }} In this role, she supported 'Operation Warm Welcome', the UK’s initiative to integrate Afghans resettled after the Taliban's return to power.
In 2024, Nasimi co-founded the Friends of Afghan Women Network (FAWN) with journalist Sarah Sands. The organisation raises awareness of Afghan women's issues internationally and directs support to grassroots efforts within Afghanistan.
In 2019, she founded Conservative Friends of Afghanistan to improve engagement between UK policymakers and the Afghan diaspora. Through this platform, she has supported initiatives that encourage Afghan representation in public life, including mentoring candidates for local council elections.{{cite web | url=http://a-cgb.co.uk/shabnam-nasimi-the-young-visionary-you-need-to-know-leading-conservative-friends-of-afghanistan/ | title=Shabnam Nasimi: The young visionary you need to know | date=12 September 2019 }}
Nasimi has also worked in local government, strategic communications, and the third sector. She is an advocate for refugee integration, gender equality, and democratic participation.{{cite web | url=https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/4185/documents/43162/default/ | title=Women and Equalities Committee – Written evidence from Shabnam Nasimi }}
She has contributed articles to The Times, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, Prospect, Foreign Policy, The i, and other platforms. Her media commentary has been featured on Newsnight, BBC News, ITV News, Channel 4 News, and Channel 5 News, among others.
She runs a newsletter, Our Forgotten Stories, focusing on Afghanistan’s overlooked intellectual and cultural history.
Honours and awards
In 2022, Nasimi was named to the Women in Westminster: The 100 – Ones to Watch list.{{cite web | url=https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/partner-content/wiw2021.htm | title=Women in Westminster 2022 }}
In 2019, she was shortlisted as one of the BBC's 100 Women.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-50119043 | title=BBC Persian – 100 Women | date=20 October 2019 }}
Political views and activity
In the May 2021 local elections, Nasimi stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Cranford ward in the London Borough of Hounslow. She received 1,191 votes, finishing second out of five candidates.{{cite web | url=https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20043/elections_and_voting/2316/hounslow_council_by-elections_-_results | title=Hounslow Council by-elections - results }}
She publicly endorsed Boris Johnson during the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.{{cite web | url=https://easyreader.org/article/page/express/news/politics/1146662/boris-johnson-news-tory-leadership-race-muslim-tory-activist-no-deal-brexit | title=Muslim Tory activist backs Boris Johnson | date=29 June 2019 }}
She has spoken in support of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU and has publicly stated that she voted for Brexit.{{cite news | url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1219823/BBC-Newsnight-news-Brexit-news-Shabnam-Nasimi-Brexit-Conservatives-EU-exit-Brussels | title=Brexit news: Tory activist explains how EU exit will let Britain rebuild global relations | date=21 December 2019 }}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasimi, Shabnam}}
Category:Alumni of the Open University
Category:Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London
Category:British women activists
Category:Afghan women activists