Image source: bbc.co.uk
This girl, after much coming from such life-threatening situations which were purely termed as an attempt to assassinate, is right now Afghanistan’s first women Deputy Speaker in the parliament and is also a part of the dedicated team of negotiators who are presently engaging with Taliban in Doha.
She has been suggested as the jury’s favorite among the list of entries for this year’s- 2020 Nobel Prize for Peace, which is due to be announced on the 9th of October, 2020.
She had survived two attempts in assassination and the bench of jury remarked that she is the perfect holder for the “recognition” for the peace awards. This is going to in-turn strengthen and empower the place of Afghani women in the region of Doha in particular and will be an inspiration for the rest of the world.
This woman is none other than Fawzia Koofi.
Ms. Fawzia Koofi quoted- “I think this is a recognition of all the efforts that Afghan women have undergone to be included in the reconciliation process, to be heard. And I think that the Noble prize for peace which I am nominated gives me personally, much more power, along with my three other sisters who are presently also negotiators in the team, who are in the process of negotiation because we do have to try harder.”
A brief insight into the Life of Fawzia Koofi
Fawzia Koofi was born in the year 1975 in Badakhshan, Afghanistan into a polygamous family which consisted of seven women. Koofi was not accepted by her parents because she was a girl child.
Her father was a Member of Parliament in Afghanistan, who got married to a younger woman, after some months of marriage when he forced Fawzia's mother to give birth to a male child, to maintain his dignity as a successor of him in society.
Fawzia’s mother was worried and the day when Fawzia was born, she was abandoned in the open sun to die by her father.
After a miraculous incident which she says not to disclose, she was again accepted and after some years of basic education convinced her parents for funding her studies for a Masters’s degree. She was also the first and the only girl child in the family who had a basic education and went for higher studies.
She graduated from college holding a master’s degree in business and management.
Later turbulent times came in the years 1979-1989 which was known to us as the end times of the first Afghan war, her father who was serving continuously for 25 years, got killed brutally by the Mujahideens and Jihadi terrorists.
Koofi was originally focused to become a physician but later she opted to study political science and focus on becoming a dignified member of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
She bravely served with a large number of non-protected groups such as one named IDP (or Internally Displaced People) which was working for the betterment of marginalized women and a large number of orphan children and then served for another two years as a child protection officer from 2002 to 2004.
She was arrange married by her family to a man named Hamid, who was by profession a Chemistry Teacher and an engineer.
Just after mere 10 days of their marriage, her husband was arrested by Talibani soldiers in the suspect of close contact with Jihadi terrorists and imprisoned. Sadly he contracted Tuberculosis in the prison and went through an average treatment for prisoners in Jail cells and shortly after his release in 2003, passed away.
Her Role in engagement in Women Rights
After knowing her unfortunate past being a woman in Afghanistan since birth and her husband’s demise, she made her priority to work for the betterment of women in her society and to defend the rights of women in her native country Afghanistan.
A brief list of her mighty achievements in her tenure as a Member of Parliament includes:
1. The new amendment of Shia’s personal law status.
2. The setup of a commission to curb the problem of sexual violence since birth against children, especially for girl children.
3. And lastly her personal grief for the prisoners in Afghanistan, their living conditions, and better healthcare facilities. To soothe her pain of her husband’s unfortunate demise due to lack of better living conditions in Afghan cells.
Also in 2009, she was proudly selected as a Young Leader by the World’s Global Economic Forum.
She also taught many young girls in her province and nearby areas in her free time and accepted their cost of education with time.
She also worked for the betterment and establishment of schools in her country and did all her efforts to eliminate the possible recurrence of another Fawzia Koofi and making sure no one gets the same fate again.
These are some of the many points why she was selected as a participant for the Nobel Peace Prize.
What are your views on this?
Pen down your comments below and let us know too.
Written by: Suraj Patra
Edited by: Rudransh Khurana
After knowing her unfortunate past being a woman in Afghanistan since birth and her husband’s demise, she made her priority to work for the betterment of women in her society and to defend the rights of women in her native country Afghanistan.
A brief list of her mighty achievements in her tenure as a Member of Parliament includes:
1. The new amendment of Shia’s personal law status.
2. The setup of a commission to curb the problem of sexual violence since birth against children, especially for girl children.
3. And lastly her personal grief for the prisoners in Afghanistan, their living conditions, and better healthcare facilities. To soothe her pain of her husband’s unfortunate demise due to lack of better living conditions in Afghan cells.
Also in 2009, she was proudly selected as a Young Leader by the World’s Global Economic Forum.
She also taught many young girls in her province and nearby areas in her free time and accepted their cost of education with time.
She also worked for the betterment and establishment of schools in her country and did all her efforts to eliminate the possible recurrence of another Fawzia Koofi and making sure no one gets the same fate again.
These are some of the many points why she was selected as a participant for the Nobel Peace Prize.
What are your views on this?
Pen down your comments below and let us know too.
Written by: Suraj Patra
Edited by: Rudransh Khurana
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