Bahishta Zahir Hellali has worked for over a decade in international development, human rights, and the rule of law. In Afghanistan, she was a Research Fellow with the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, contributing to legal reform and justice sector initiatives and worked as a consultant to the United Nations on environmental issues. She holds an LL.M. in International and European Law from Aix-Marseille University in France and is pursuing a Ph.D. at Goethe University, in Frankfurt, Germany.