Haleh Afshar OBE is Professor Emeritus at the University of York and serves as a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. In 2005 she was awarded an OBE for services to equal opportunities. For seven years she served as Deputy Chair of the British Council's Gender and Development Task Force. She has also served with the Advisory Group of the Cabinet Offices Women's Unit to work on raising gender awareness amongst civil servants who adjudicate on applications for asylum from women. In 2008 she was appointed to serve as a Commissioner on Women's National Commission. She has written two and edited/co-edited 13 books on questions relating to women and development.