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= Shabnam Nasimi = Shabnam Nasimi is a British Afghan political and social activist. She is Founder and Director of the Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, a political organisation seeking to build a stronger relationship between the Conservative party, the British Afghan community and Afghanistan.

= Personal life = Nasimi born in 1991 in Azerbaijan Baku. In 1999, when she was eight, her family migrated to London, England, fleeing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. She has four siblings, one of whom, Rabia Nasimi, is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, studying Sociology.

For her post-secondary education, Ali attended the Open University studying B.A. Law, and a MSc in International Security and Global Governance at Birkbeck University.

= Career = Shabnam has experience working in implementing the UK Government’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy - Prevent and working with local communities to respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat from those who promote it. She has been working in the charity sector for almost 10 years and continues to support British communities to prosper and flourish, promoting integration and British values. She is also a women's rights activist, and serves as an Ambassador of the 50:50 Parliament campaign.

She is also a Third Sector and NGO consultant.

She has been extensively involved in running Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA), a charity founded by her father to support refugee integration in the UK. As part of her work at the ACAA, she has worked in a diaspora-led development programme in Afghanistan as well as supporting women and families who are refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

Nasim is a columnist for Conservative Home, written for the Spectator, The Huffington Post, openDemocracy, and University Blogs including LSE, SOAS and OU. She has also made appearances on Sky News, Channel 5 Live, ITV News and the BBC World Service, including BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, BBC Afghanistan and BBC Persian.

= Honours and Awards = On International Women's Day 2019, Nasimi received an Inspirational Women in Public Affairs award from PolicyMogul.

She was also named Regional Finalist for the Forward Ladies National Awards & Summit on July 2019 for Charity/Social Enterprise, winners are being announced in September.

= Political Activity = Nasimi founded the Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, a political organisation aimed at strengthening relationships and cooperation between the Conservative party, Britains Afghan community and Afghanistan. This non profit works to raise the issue of FGM on the international agenda and re-grant funding to grassroots organizations working to end FGM.

Nasimi also campaigns for with Women2Win and Conservative Women's Organisation to elect more Conservative women to Parliament.

She endorsed Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership election, who she views as a liberal, progressive and one-nation Conservative.