Shaharzad AkbarVerified account

I experienced violent conflict, displacement & migration all before I was even a teenager. I remember seeing dead bodies on d street as a child. My childhood, similar to millions of Afghans, was marked with war, poverty & uncertainty.

By the time I was born, my mother had already been forced to leave school due to conflict & my father had already been held as political prisoner & tortured. Things got worse every year & war become the new normal.

As conflict grew & warring groups multiplied, in addition to devastating loss of life & destruction of infrastructure, social & religious moderation decreased, ethnic tensions became violent & d civic & intellectual space continued to shrink.

Father & his friends & other like-minded Afs, tried 2 protect d intellectual & cultural space 2 d extent possible by writing,publishing,holding literary events & educating their families. My siblings & I grew up on world literature despite our material poverty & d chaos around us

Under d Taliban gov, with their attack on women, education, literature, culture & media, there was no breathing space left for people like our family. My family reluctantly left 4 Pakistan and we only returned in early 2002, hoping to be part of a better, more tolerant Af.

In d past 18 years, a lot has gone wrong & many have suffered. Conflict & corruption continue to kill us & hold d country back. There is increased consensus on d need 2 end dis war. There is also a strong desire 2 move forward & build on what we have & emerge stronger.

There is an aspiration 2 expand d space 4 moderation, creativity, understanding & tolerance. To enable more Af girls imagine better futures & more Af women live full lives as equal citizens. To encourage diversity & dialogue, not return to feeding dogmatism & ideology.

As we navigate & learn parenthood, my mind & heart travel between fear & hope. Fear of another childhood spent in conflict & uncertainty, hope of an end 2 bloodshed & a better childhood for my son's generation. I hope we won't have to start from scratch again.