Afghanistan - what next?

9th September, 2021, 6pm - 7pm

Zoom

Headmaster Join an expert panel of Prior Park College alumni and our Head, Ben Horan (right), as they discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. How will it affect those who remain in the country and in particular, women and girls? And how will it affect the West, the world order and you?

There are so many questions to ask and Ben will open up the discussion to the virtual floor, allowing you to steer the conversation. Book your free place below.

Meet the panelists:

John Gatt-Rutter (PPA 1989)

Senior diplomatic career with the European Union. Former Head of Counterterrorism at the European External Action Service (2015-19) and former European Union Ambassador in the occupied Palestinian territory (2011-15).

Pierre Makhlouf (PPA 1982)

Pierre has worked in the field of Immigration and Asylum Law since 1989, beginning his career in private practice with Simons Muirhead and Burton Solicitors and joining Hackney Community Law Centre in January 1995. He became Assistant Director at Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) in September 2007, a post now re-titled to Legal Director. He is responsible for the organisation's legal strategy for helping people apply to get out of immigration detention, as well as for its Article 8 Deportation Advice Project, and has led it in a number of interventions before the higher courts, including the Supreme Court. He is the co-convenor of the Immigration Law Practitioner Association’s Working Group on Detention, Deportation and Criminal Offences.

Harry Porteous (PPA 1995)

Current Head of Risk Operations at Vocalink Mastercard. Experience in public and private sector national security strategy. Panelist and speaker on international security at the Project for the Study of the 21st Century (PS21), a London think tank. Previously conducted provincial reconstruction operations in Northern Afghanistan and combat operations in Helmand. Subsequent roles assessing crisis and contingency risks to HMG across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Chris Lennon (PPA 1964)

Christopher has been working in the insurance sector in the UK, South Africa and Afghanistan for over 50 years. In 2008 he joined the first and only commercial insurer established in Kabul. He was based in the city until 2018 and remains a UK-based consultant to the company. He has many friends still in Afghanistan.