Momina Yari is a distinguished Afghan human rights advocate, legal expert, and former Election Commissioner with over two decades of experience in promoting democracy, women's rights, justice, and accountable governance in Afghanistan and internationally.

Born Maidan Wardak, she holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of Peshawar and a Master's degree in Social Science from Kabul University. Over the course of her career, she has participated in numerous international professional trainings and conferences, including programmes organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malaysia, leadership and management trainings in Singapore and the United Kingdom, and specialised human rights and CEDAW training at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

Ms. Yari served as a Commissioner of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, where she played an important role in organising and overseeing national and local elections in accordance with democratic and transparent electoral principles. She also strongly advocated for women's participation in political processes, both as voters and candidates.

From 2003 to 2005, she led the section for supporting and developing women's rights at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. In this role, she conducted nationwide seminars, civic education programmes, and institutional trainings for the Ministry of Justice, Attorney General's Office, Police, Supreme Court, universities, and other institutions, with the aim of strengthening human rights and women's rights protections in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and CEDAW standards.

She also served as Director of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Women's Affairs of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003, where she worked to combat violence against women, forced and child marriages, and harmful traditional practices through legal reform initiatives, public awareness programmes, and institutional cooperation.

Since November 2021, Ms. Yari has been residing in Germany, where she serves as Deputy Director of the Afghanistan Organisation for Development of Human Rights. Through this platform, she continues to advocate for human rights, women's rights, and access to justice for Afghan victims and vulnerable communities.

Ms. Yari is actively engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and works closely with the Secretariat of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court on issues related to gender persecution and gender apartheid in Afghanistan. She is also a member of the Victims' Rights Working Group and several Afghan women's networks, including Together Stronger, CEDAW Group, and Our Voice for Our Future.

Fluent in Dari, Pashto, English, Urdu, and German, Ms. Yari has represented Afghanistan at numerous international conferences and seminars on democracy, human rights, and women's empowerment.

Through her legal expertise, democratic experience, and sustained advocacy for Afghan women and vulnerable communities, Ms. Yari brings to GPS Forum a valuable perspective on human rights, justice, gender equality, and democratic resilience.