Friday, November 23, 2007
Farah Karimi is Oxfam Novib’s new director
On February 1, 2008 Farah Karimi will begin as the new general director of Oxfam Novib. Karimi has ample experience in the field of international co-operation and human rights. She is succeeding Sylvia Borren, who has been in the position for eight years.As general director Karimi will become Oxfam Novib’s new face in the Netherlands. She will represent the organisation internationally, in Oxfam International as well as with partner organisations in the South.
Oxfam Novib’s mission of a just world without poverty links up seamlessly with Karimi’s interests and background. “The struggle for justice is the red thread in my life”, says Karimi. “I’ve always been committed to human rights and to realising them for everybody – first in Iran and later in the Netherlands. The big issues of our time: from poverty and increasing inequality inside and between countries, to cultural and religious intolerance and extremism, all problems caused by people, and thus all problems that must be solved by people. Oxfam Novib is a leading organisation in this field and I am going to commit all my efforts. I want to dedicate my efforts above all to further improving the impact of our work, its support-base and our accountability. ”
In the years to come Oxfam Novib will continue to develop into an international actor, and in Karimi is getting a director with a rich international experience. Joris Voorhoeve, chairman of the Board of Supervision: “As a politician Karimi has acquired a lot of expertise in international co-operation, defence and human rights. She has an extensive network, both in Dutch politics and around the world. It is a special moment when a woman with her rich experience comes to lead the Dutch organisation Oxfam Novib.”
Farah Karimi came to Europe as a refugee in 1983. In the Netherlands she studied Policy and Governance of International Organisations, and has been a member for the Green Left of the Lower House of Parliament for more than eight years, where she focussed on development co-operation, foreign affairs, defence and European affairs. Early this year she was involved in the capacity building of the Afghan parliament, as a consultant for the UN organisation UNDP. As a governor she is, among others, active on the advisory board of the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World.
Farah Karimi also writes books, like The Secret of Fire, about her personal history, and Battlefield Afghanistan, about developments in Afghanistan.
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