Ms. Shukria Barakzai, MP

Ms. Shukria Barakzai is a parliamentarian and a women rights activist in Afghanistan. After she was beaten on the streets of Kabul by the Taliban militants for being outdoors without a man, she became a women rights activist. She first founded a clandestine school for girls and later when the Taliban forces were ousted from Kabul, Aina-E-Zan (“Women’s Mirror”) a national weekly newspaper which informs women in Afghanistan about the recent developments in health care, education and civil society. Ms, Barakzai is an outspoken critic of child marriages, forced marriages and home violence towards women. In 2003 she was appointed a member of loya jirga, a representative body convened to discuss the Constitution of Afghanistan. In 2004 she was elected a member of the Lower House of the Afghanistan Parliament. Her outstanding public service has also received recognition outside Afghanistan. She was named the International Editor of the Year by the World Press Review in 2004 and a Woman of the Year by the BBC radio program Woman’s Hour. She holds a degree in geology and archaeology from the University in Kabul.