Zarghuna Kargar was born in Kabul in 1982. When civil war erupted across Afghanistan, she and her family escaped to Pakistan, and it was there that Zarghuna attended a journalism course organised by the BBC. Then in 2001 her family sought asylum in the UK, and she started working for the BBC World Service Pashtu Section. She joined the team on the groundbreaking programme Afghan Woman's Hour as producer and presenter in 2004, until it was discontinued in 2010. Zarghuna now works on current affairs programmes for the BBC Afghan Service. She lives in London.

Naomi Goldsmith worked on Dear Zari with Zarghuna. She is an award-winning journalist who has reported and presented for the BBC. She met Zarghuna in Afghanistan, where they both trained local women to make radio programmes.