Rethinking Refugee Systems After Conflict with Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi MBE
Dialogues for Post-Conflict Futures Series Webinar #2
As part of the Dialogues for Post-Conflict Futures Webinar Series, this session centers the lived experience and personal journey of Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi MBE, who fled Afghanistan with his family in 1999, undertaking a dangerous three-month journey across Europe before seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. From these beginnings, he went on to found one of the UK’s leading refugee support charities in London and has become a prominent advocate for refugee rights.
Building from this, the discussion will examine what a more just and equitable system for refugees might look like in practice, and how people escaping conflict can be more effectively supported across both immediate and long-term horizons. Rather than focusing solely on policy, the session will explore the adaptive and often community-led work required to drive meaningful, sustained change.
The dialogue will also reflect on the realities of working within rapidly shifting post-conflict contexts, including how events such as the fall of Kabul have reshaped priorities, approaches, and definitions of impact. In doing so, the session invites participants to critically engage with what it means to build responsive, resilient systems of support in an ever-changing global landscape.
Speaker Bios:
Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi MBE is a former refugee who fled Afghanistan with his family, and who now campaigns for refugee rights in Europe and his former home country. In 1999, immediately after arriving in the UK, he founded the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA), a charity dedicated to helping refugees in London to integrate. In 2011 he founded the European Campaign for Human Rights in Afghanistan, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of Afghans worldwide. He currently serves as the director of the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association based in Hounslow, London.
Moderator: Darius Nasimi is a British Darius Nasimi is a British Afghan leader, entrepreneur, and advocate whose work spans refugee integration, international development, and cross-regional collaboration. Born in Afghanistan, he arrived in the UK as an infant after his family fled the Taliban and was raised in South East London. He graduated from King’s College London with a BA in Philosophy.
He currently serves as Head of Funding and Partnerships at the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA), where he has raised over £8 million to support refugee communities across the UK. Alongside this, he has founded multiple initiatives focused on strengthening ties between the UK and Central Asia, including business councils and investment platforms.
Darius has held advisory and leadership roles across the public and third sectors, including with the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Advisory Group. His work bridges policy, community engagement, and enterprise, with a focus on long-term, systems-level impact.
In recognition of his contributions to social action and humanitarian efforts, he was awarded The Diana Award in 2024.
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