Maryam Barak is a former Afghanistan Observatory Scholar at New America. She worked with the BBC as a producer from August 2020 to August 2021 when she was evacuated from Afghanistan. Prior to joining the BBC, she worked in different capacities with the radio station Salam Watandar from 2017 to 2020. Her reports have focused on raising awareness about women’s rights, women empowerment, and children’s rights. Since then, she has contributed to publications in Italy and Greece.
Barak is a graduate of Kabul University and holds a post-graduate diploma from Asian College of Journalism in India. She participated in a fellowship in Sri Lanka in 2020. She left Afghanistan following the collapse of the country’s former government.
Barak’s project with the Afghanistan Observatory is to explore the stories of Afghans in exile.