Shukria is a peace and security expert, human-rights advocate, and a gender specialist.
She served as director of the Prevention and Protection Working Group (PPWG) at FCNL from 2018-2022. PPWG is a coalition of 250 human rights, religious, humanitarian, anti-genocide and peace organizations, she advocates for prevention of mass atrocities and genocide. PPWG was instrumental in passing the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act and the Global Fragility Act–two ground-breaking legislative initiatives that advance global peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
Prior to her tenure at FCNL, Shukria worked in the development sector on women’s empowerment and in the defense sector as a political analyst and cultural adviser, testifying before Congress as a subject matter expert in multiple briefings. She has led several fact-finding missions to Afghanistan and represented the Center for International Policy as a Senior Fellow (CIP) for 7 years.
Shukria also consults with the Afghanistan Peace Campaign to push for peace and reconciliation while advocating for protection of human rights. She serves as an adviser to Thought Partnerships, an organization dedicated to advancing nonviolent, just, and inclusive societies.
Shukria holds B.A. and M.S. degrees from George Mason University’s School of Conflict Analysis & Resolution, and is fluent in English, Dari, Pashto, and Urdu/Hindi. She is the author of a chapter in Afghanistan in Times of Crises (on the role of women in the country’s reconstruction), and has published a book of poems, The Conversation. Ms. Dellawar’s opinion editorials have been published in leading U.S. newspapers and she has been interviewed by many western news networks as an expert on Afghanistan.