University lecturer and journalist Yalda Nasri from Afghanistan is Alta’s first ICORN resident

Yalda Nasri is a university lecturer in Islamic Studies and journalist from Afghanistan. She has worked at various universities, as well as a reporter and producer for several media outlets.

Between 2016 and 2017, Nasri worked as a university lecturer at Balkh University, where she was responsible for developing and delivering lectures, tutorial courses, workshops, and seminars.

In 2017, Nasri began working at Rahnaward University, Balkh provide, contributing to the development of the academic curriculum and course materials.

From 2019 to 2021, Nasri worked at the Cheragh Medical Institute in Kabul. In that position, she delivered lectures and served as the Chair of the Gender Committee. During this period, she published articles on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the university’s monthly magazine.

During the same period, Nasri also worked as a producer for the Asia Music Channel (AMC) and as a reporter for Tanweer Weekly newspaper, contributing with articles on social injustice, women’s rights, religion, and gender-based violence.

Following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Nasri had to minimise her professional activities due to Taliban directives banning women from working in public offices. Yet, despite the heavy restrictions, Nasri continued teaching only and occasionally took part in low-profile activities, including appearing as a guest on the podcast Afghan Fact in February 2023.

In February 2023, Nasri joined the Afghan Online University, a private academic institution, managed by the Afghan diaspora. Her goal was to provide an education platform for Afghan women who had no access to higher education. She was also assigned as the faculty spokesperson but had to resign shortly after due to security threats.

Following several serious security accidents, Nasri was forced to flee to Pakistan in November 2024, where she faced instability and security threats. Despite this, she continued her online activism though women’s rights and educational content.

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Alta ICORN City of Refuge

Alta joined ICORN in June 2025, becoming the world’s northernmost City of Refuge and the first one in the county of Finnmark, Norway.

Exactly a year later, Alta welcomed Yalda Nasri as the city’s first ICORN resident.

The ICORN programme in Alta is run by the municipality’s cultural department and Alta library, in cooperation with the department for integration and settlement.