Yalda Hakim

Yalda Hakim is an award-winning international correspondent and documentary filmmaker. She is the host of the flagship programme “Daily Global with Yalda Hakim” on BBC News. Earlier this year she was named Chief Presenter of the newly merged BBC News Channel. She will be joining Sky News UK as Lead World News Presenter in the Autumn.

Yalda has spent nearly two decades reporting from the frontlines of the world’s most consequential and dangerous stories. Over the past year, Yalda has reported extensively from Ukraine covering the ongoing war. Her recent interview with President Zelensky made global headlines when he acknowledged the counter-offensive has been slower than expected.

Yalda led BBC World’s coverage of the collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021. Since then, Yalda has travelled extensively across Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, producing a series of documentaries on the impact of the Taliban takeover on the lives of ordinary Afghans, especially the women and girls of the country. In recognition of her work, Yalda was invited to address the United Nations Security Council in 2022 on the situation in Afghanistan.

Yalda also regularly conducts high profile interviews with some of the world’s most important leaders and public figures. She conducted the first international interview with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Among Yalda’s other recent interviews include former US President Bill Clinton, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, Hollywood actor and director Angelina Jolie and Prince Albert of Monaco.

Yalda was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and came as a refugee to Australia, where she grew up. She is the founder of the Yalda Hakim Foundation, which has established scholarships for disadvantaged Afghan girls to receive an education.