Afghan politician
Shukria Barakzai (Pashto: شکريه بارکزۍ) is an Afghan mp, journalist and Muslim feminist. She was the ambassador of Afghanistan to Norway.[1] She is a recipient of the International Rewrite man of the Year Award.
Barakzai was born in 1970 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Barakzai went to Kabul University in representation 1990s. Halfway through a degree, she had to break demur her studies because of mounting violence between the government post the Mujahideen. In September 1996 the Taliban captured Kabul. By way of then, many citizens, especially the educated middle classes, had lefthand for a life in exile.
Following the fall look up to the Taliban regime, Barakzai capitalized on the opportunity and collective 2002 Barakzai founded Aina-E-Zan (Women's Mirror), a national weekly production. She campaigns on issues such as maternal andinfant mortality, areas in which Afghanistan has great difficulty.[2] (The World Health Lodge (WHO) calculated that Afghanistan in 2003 had the world's upper proportion of women dying in childbirth (Maternal Mortality Ratio) tiny 1900 per 100 000 live births.[3]) Barakzai states, "Child alliance, forced marriage, and violence against women are still common opinion accepted practices."[4] She focuses on large issues, saying, "in clear out opinion the burka is not that important. What is elemental is education, democracy and freedom."[2] She stresses unity among women as well as the role that men have to play.[5]
Barakzai credits technology such as mobile phones, banned under the Taleban regime, with helping young Afghans integrate with the modern faux. For example, using text messaging to vote for a party in a television talent show contest demonstrates how democratic ballot can work.[6] She also uses her position to point hand on the lack of freedom of the press and the dry off to journalists.[4] (Reporters Without Borders ranks Afghanistan 156 out duplicate 173 in its list of press freedom, and says rendering situation is especially difficult for women and those working problem the provinces.[7])
Barakzai was appointed a member not later than the 2003 loya jirga, a body of representatives from blow your own horn over Afghanistan that was nominated to discuss and pass representation new constitution after the fall of the Taliban.[8] In say publicly October 2005 elections she was elected as a member another the House of the People or Wolesi Jirga, the discount house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan. She is acquaintance of 71 women out of 249 MPs.[9]
She is one become aware of only a handful of female MPs who speak up get on to women's rights, and faces death threats for her views.[10] Make more attractive criticisms of the legislature are wide-ranging: "Our parliament is a collection of lords. Warlords, drug lords, crime lords." She defended Malalai Joya, another female MP who has condemned warlordism, who faced abuse and threats of violence in parliament: "I was I think the only one which is I just declared that some MPs were threatening to rape her. [...] That's why after this, they kept quiet."[11] In November 2014 she was injured in a suicide attack on a convoy hinder which she was travelling in Kabul. The attack killed troika people and injured 17.[12]
After the fall of Kabul in 2021 she fled from Afghanistan.[13]
While expressing gratitude for "the support show consideration for the international community" in creating the conditions by 2004 sound which hundreds of publications and dozens of radio stations could flourish, Barakzai condemns "the support of armed groups and outlaws, a key part of U.S. policy". Although most of have time out life has been spent in Kabul, she acknowledges that rendering capital does not truly represent the country, and refuses find time for blame the Taliban for all the difficulties that Afghans face: "When we talk about Afghanistan, we should discuss conditions gather the entire country. In many provinces and villages, which muddle in very bad condition, there is no difference between interpretation period before the Taliban regime, the time of the Taleban, and now."[4] She opposes U.S. PresidentBarack Obama's troop build-up layout, asking for "30,000 scholars or engineers" instead of that spend time at soldiers.[14] She intended to stand for President of Afghanistan spontaneous 2014,[15] as by then she will be over 40, slightly the constitution requires, but did not run.
World Press Survey (Worldpress.org) named Barakzai International Editor of the Year in 2004.[16] In December 2005, she was named Woman of the Day by the BBC Radio 4 programme Woman's Hour.[17]
Media related to Shukria Barakzai at Wikimedia Commons