The First Ones

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Adela Raz was born in 1986 in Paktika Province, eastern Afghanistan. As the eldest child and only daughter in a family with three younger brothers, her childhood coincided with A...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Azra Jafari was born in 1978 in Afghanistan, making history as her nation's first female mayor. A Hazara woman whose life journey mirrored her country's struggles, she spent her...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Niloofar Rahmani, the girl who once dreamed of soaring through Kabul’s skies, defied all odds to become Afghanistan’s first female pilot. At 18, after hearing a radio announcemen...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Somaya Ghulami made history as Afghanistan’s first female athlete to win a gold medal, representing the national taekwondo team at the South Asian Games. She became the first Af...

Sara Bahai broke barriers as the first woman in Afghanistan to become a taxi driver, defying deep-rooted gender norms. A university graduate and a teacher at Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi High...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Maria Bashir is the first woman in Afghanistan’s history to serve as Chief Prosecutor of Appeals. A graduate of law and political science from Kabul University, she has dedicated...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Dr Massouda Jalal, born on January 5, 1962 (15 Jadi 1340) in Kapisa, Afghanistan, is a prominent Afghan politician and medical doctor. She served as Minister of Women’s Affairs...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi When Habiba Sarabi was appointed governor of Bamiyan in March 2005, even then-President Hamid Karzai doubted whether people would accept a woman in such a role. She responded co...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi In Afghanistan’s turbulent history, the word revolution has almost always conjured up the image of men. Rarely has an Afghan woman been envisioned as a revolutionary. But one nam...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi Kabul University, Afghanistan’s first academic institution, was founded in 1932 — but it took over two decades before a woman joined its faculty. That trailblazer was Fatema Se...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi During the reign of King Amanullah Khan (1919–1929), Afghan women and girls experienced an unprecedented wave of progress: they attended school for the first time, women’s hospi...

✍️ By: Hamia Naderi In 1987, during the communist era under President Najibullah, Afghanistan saw the creation of its first official women’s military unit, a bold — though short-lived — step toward...