| Daud Junbish | |
| Nationality: | Afghan |
| Years Active: | 1994 – |
| Known For: | Mullah Omar interviews |
| Notable Works: | Open Jirga |
| Source: | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02xxfsm BBC;--> |
Daud Junbish is a BBC journalist.[1] [2] He is one of the few journalists in the world who has met former Taliban chief Mullah Omar, and has interviewed him on multiple occasions.[3] He is the author of What Is Really Happening in Afghanistan?, 24 Hours That Turned Afghanistan Around, and Red Army in Afghanistan.[2]
Junbish completed his PhD from Moscow State University in the area of journalism.[4]
Junbish joined BBC Moscow in 1994 as a reporter. He subsequently became a senior editor with BBC Radio for their Afghanistan service.[5] Currently, he works with BBC's Afghanistan service as a producer.[4]
One of Junbish's most notable meetings was in 1996, when he met the then Taliban head, Mullah Omar. Over the next few years, Junbish interviewed Omar multiple times for BBC.[3] In August 2015, the BBC program The Fifth Floor interviewed Junbish in a special feature, covering the range of interviews Junbish had held with Omar.[3]
Over his career with BBC, Junbish has written a number of books on Afghanistan, including What Is Really Happening in Afghanistan?, 24 Hours That Turned Afghanistan Around, and Red Army in Afghanistan.[2] He has also written two textbooks for Kabul University's journalism faculty.[4]
Junbish is the presenter for the BBC program Open Jirga,[4] a show featuring a panel discussion amongst notable personalities combined with audience questions. The show is funded by the UK government's Department for International Development[6] and is jointly produced by the Afghan service of BBC, BBC Media Action, and Radio Television Afghanistan.[7] Junbish, who launched the show in 2012 as a weekly series, has invited and featured prominent personalities like Sulaiman Layeq and Mohammad Mohaqiq in the discussion panels.[7]
The issues taken up by Junbish in various episodes have been praised by various international media.[8] [9] BBC described the third edition of the show, hosted by Junbish, as including a "ground-breaking exchange".[7] The Junbish-hosted series became so successful that Hamid Karzai, then the President of Afghanistan, sought an invitation to the show (Karzai was subsequently invited and appeared therein).[10] Junbish's show is credited with influencing government and civil society action on various national and regional issues.[10] Le Monde reported that over 2 to 3 million people were regular viewers of the show, a high figure for a nation with a population of around 30 million.[10]