AYESHA TANZEEM
Ayesha Tanzeem, a multiple international award-winning journalist, is the Director of the South and Central Asia Division at the Voice of America (VOA). She is one of a few foreign correspondents who have traveled to areas under the control and influence of the Islamic State militant group while it was at the peak of its power in eastern Afghanistan in 2015. Her reporting that brought to light tales of harrowing cruelty and suffering earned her the David Burke award for Courage in Journalism.
As the VOA’s Afghanistan and Afghanistan bureau chief from 2015 to 2021, she traveled the length and breadth of both the countries to cover issues related to politics, governance, militancy, terrorism, and human rights, particularly press freedom, minority rights, and women’s rights. Her special in-depth report on the threats to Afghan media under a Taliban regime was part of the VOA entry that won the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) media freedom award in November 2021. She frequently traveled to conflict zones in both countries to collect first-hand accounts of life under the shadow of violence.
When the Taliban overran the country militarily in August 2021, Tanzeem was on the ground, reporting on the fear and uncertainty of people as the militant group advanced. The day Taliban took over capital Kabul, she was on the streets of the city, reporting on how the atmosphere changed right before her eyes as panic gripped the population.
Ayesha has lived and worked on three continents — Asia, Europe, and North America —for various media outlets including the BBC. She has covered a broad variety of subjects, like the U.S. presidential elections, terrorism, conflicts in the Middle East, the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., the Syrian refugee/migrant crisis in Europe, and the aftermath of terrorist attacks in France.
She has also been the host of multiple TV shows and special television transmissions. Two of her weekly shows, “On the Line” and “Access Point with Ayesha Tanzeem" tackled burning issues of international importance.