Maryam Rayed

Maryam Rayed is an Afghan human rights advocate and peacebuilding practitioner whose work has centered on women's rights, girls' education, and democracy promotion in Afghanistan. She served as deputy director for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights at Afghanistan's State Ministry for Peace and later founded the Afghanistan Women's Think Tank. She has also co-founded Democracy Pen, which advocates for democracy, women's education, and press freedom in Afghanistan.

Education Rayed was born in Afghanistan during the Taliban's first period of rule.

Career and advocacy Rayed served as deputy director for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights at Afghanistan's State Ministry for Peace, where her work focused on human rights and women's participation in peace and security discussions.

Recognition In October 2022, Rayed received the Advocate on the Rise award at the Excellence in Advocacy Awards held by Women in Government Relations. Khaama Press reported she was the first Afghan woman recognized by the organization in that category.

In January 2025, the Institute of International Education named Rayed an IIE Rodman C. Rockefeller Centennial Fellow for the Afghanistan Hub – Afghan Girls Online Education Project, an online initiative that provides Afghan girls with English-language learning, mentorship, and scholarship opportunities.

Rayed was a Fall 2025 Fellow in the CAMCA Fellowship Program, run jointly by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council and the Rumsfeld Foundation. The program brings emerging leaders from Central Asia, Mongolia, the Caucasus and Afghanistan to Washington, D.C. for an intensive exchange with U.S. policymakers, journalists and civil society leaders. The Foundation's biography of the cohort described her cross-sector background in government, civil society and international policy, and noted her fellowship focus on women's empowerment, digital innovation and inclusive governance in the region.