Afghan women receive 2026 Chatham House Prize at London ceremony

Chatham House presented its 2026 Prize to the women of Afghanistan at a ceremony in London on Monday, 9 November, recognising what it called their “collective resistance to systematic gender persecution”. Elaha Safdari of Afghanistan’s women’s national football team accepted the award from Chatham House President and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

The UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Richard Lindsay, congratulated Afghan women on Tuesday and said the country’s future stability and prosperity depend on their full participation in society. Since August 2021 the Taliban authorities have restricted girls’ secondary and higher education, women’s employment and their movement in public spaces; no Taliban response to the award has been reported.