We are proud to share that two members of the HAMRAH Network, Pashtana Durrani and Artemis Akbary, have been named finalists for the WIN WIN Youth Award 2026.
The WIN WIN Youth Award is part of the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award, which this year focused on gender equality as its central theme. As the award’s organisers put it, we live in a moment when “progress on gender equality is under threat from a global backlash, where women’s bodies, voices, and rights once again become battlegrounds for authoritarian forces.” The award recognises those who are pushing back, individuals and movements creating systemic change by challenging power structures, shifting norms, and building societies where equality is not only a goal, but a strategy for sustainable peace, democracy, and planetary resilience.
Pashtana and Artemis embody exactly that.
Pashtana Durrani, founder of LEARN Afghanistan, has built an underground education network for Afghan girls at a time when the Taliban has banned them from school entirely. Her work represents one of the most determined acts of civil resistance against gender apartheid anywhere in the world today.
Artemis Akbary, founder and director of the Afghanistan LGBTIQ+ Organisation (ALO), advocates for Afghan LGBTIQ+ individuals, providing protection, documentation, and support from exile. Her nomination recognises the courage it takes to make invisible communities visible.
We are proud and honoured to work alongside Pashtana and Artemis. They represent the very best of Afghan civil society; leaders who remind us of every day why this network exists. Their nominations are a recognition not just of their individual courage, but of what Afghan women and civil society are capable of when given the support and space to act.
Timor Sharan, Founder and Programme Director, HAMRAH Network
Their nominations, alongside globally recognised figures including Malala Yousafzai, speak to the scale and significance of what Afghan civil society continues to achieve under the most difficult conditions.
Laureates will be announced on 21 April 2026, online and at the Gothenburg Sustainability Summit.
See the full list of finalists: winwinaward.org/finalists-2026
