Founders

Horia Mosadiq – Founder and member of the board responsible for Donor Liaison and emergency assistance for HRDs and WHRDs .

Horia Mosadiq is a well-known and widely respected journalist and human rights defender from Afghanistan with more than 30 years of work experience in defending and promoting human rights and women’s human rights. She has an extensive experience in journalism, research, documentation and protection of HRDs at risk in South Asia.
Horia worked with many reputable international and local organizations such as Amnesty International, European Institute of Peace, UNICEF, UNDP, United Press International and Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. As a long-standing human rights defender herself Horia is well familiar with the risks, threats and challenges HRDs face and with the solutions that need to be put in place.
Horia is remaining a strong voice in support of justice and accountability for the human rights violations at the national and international level and has won enormous awards for her bravery, dedication and tireless advocacy in protection and promotion of human rights and democratic values.

Zamarey Faqiri – Director Safety and Operational Manager of SRMO.

Zamarey has more than 20 years of working experience in the security and safety management of NGOs and humanitarian agencies. He held senior positions with the Afghanistan NGOs Safety Office (ANSO/ INSO) and the United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) where he has been dealing on daily bases with assessing and managing threats, security and safety of NGOs and UN staff as well as of the UN properties, and conducting security trainings. He has been working in close collaboration with the international and UN agencies as well as civil society organisations and has extensive contacts and connections within various communities and contexts.

Sonya Merkova – Programme and Advocacy Manager and responsible for HRDs Hotline.

Sonya has a Masters degree in International Politics and Human Rights and more than 15 years of working experience in human rights protection in South Asia.
Sonya has held positions with the Amnesty International, United Nations Assistant Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and worked with the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Association and Peaceful Assemblies. Sonya has extensively worked on human rights issues in South Asia including in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sonya has provided protection, including emergency evacuation, for journalists and HRDs and their families facing death threats in both countries. She worked on a project of setting up a protection network for assisting journalists at risk in Pakistan.. Sonya was a member of an internal Working Group on HRDs in the International Secretariat of Amnesty International and has acted as the focal point for the AI HRDs work in the Asia-Pacific programme.