{"id":92620,"date":"2024-06-17T09:20:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T13:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=92620"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:22:10","slug":"farida-nekzad-afghan-refugee-convocation","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/farida-nekzad-afghan-refugee-convocation\/","title":{"rendered":"From War Zone to Graduate: Afghan Refugee Crosses the Stage Three Years After Fleeing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n From War Zone to Graduate: Afghan Refugee Crosses the Stage Three Years After Fleeing\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Three years after fleeing Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Farida Nekzad crossed the stage at Carleton University’s convocation ceremony on June 18. Her journey<\/a> as an Afghan refugee, marked by unspeakable hardship, stands as a testament to her resilience and determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This graduation is a really exciting moment for me,” says Nekzad. “Despite the challenges \u2013 the stress, emotional trauma and economic troubles \u2013 I can say I made it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Farida Nekzad accepts her Master of Journalism degree at Carleton’s convocation on June 18 (photo by Brenna Mackay)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Journey of an Afghan Refugee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On August 21, 2021, as the city of Kabul fell to the Taliban, Nekzad made the difficult decision to escape the country with her 12-year-old daughter and brother-in-law, forced to leave behind her husband and other family members. Navigating her neighbourhood, now a war zone, she made it out with only a few possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“My purpose in undertaking this journey was twofold: to secure a better future for my daughter, and to advocate for the rights of women who continue to live under the Taliban’s oppressive rule,<\/em>” Nekzad wrote in a Hill Times<\/em> article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Nekzad worked as a journalist and media advocate in Afghanistan for over 25 years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nekzad is an award-winning journalist, media activist and coach of over two decades. She’s been recognized for her renowned work with the International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award, an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media from the Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she fled, she had to abandon her position as the director of the Centre for the Protection of Afghan Women Journalists \u2014 an organization that she founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n