Azra Jafari ( fa, عذرا جعفری) is an Afghanistani politician and women rights advocate who became the first female mayor in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
appointed by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...
in December 2008. She became the mayor of
Nili
NILI was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine between 1915 and 1917, during World War I. NILI is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yesha ...
, a town in
Daykundi Province
Daykundi ( prs, دایکندی) also spelled as Daikundi, Daykondi, Daikondi or Dai Kundi, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central part of the country. It has a population of about 516,504, and is a Hazara Pro ...
of Afghanistan. She belongs to the
Hazara ethnic group.
Personal life
Jafari completed her high school in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
while living there as a
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. and continued her education at Midwifery school in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
2005. After the removal of the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
in late 2001 and the establishment of the new western-backed
Karzai administration
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repu ...
, she returned and participated in the ''Emergency
Loya Jirga
A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...
'' in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
.
Career
Azra Jafari was editor-in-chief of Afghan social and cultural magazine ''Farhang'' in 1998. Later, she established an elementary school for Afghan refugees in Iran while she was working as Officer in Charge in Refugees' Cultural Center. In 2001, Jafari joined Emergency
Loya Jirga
A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...
in Kabul.
In December 2008, she was appointed as the first and only female mayor in Afghanistan.
She was appointed as the mayor of Nili town
Publications
Jafari has been involved in the writing of two books since returning to Afghanistan. She contributed to ''The Making of the New Constitution of Afghanistan'', which is about the political system and processes in Afghanistan and was published in 2003. She wrote ''I am a Working Woman'', which talks about employment law and the rights of Afghan women in the labour market, and was published in 2008.
Awards
Azra Jafari has been awarded the Meeto Memorial Award at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts for her work and commitment to social development.
See also
*
List of Hazara people
Hazara people make up the second or third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan with 8–12 million population, making 20%–25% of the total population of Afghanistan (Some suggest the real population might reach 30%) where they mainly inhabit the ...
References
External links
*Women's rights worsene
Reuters*A Talk with the first female mayo
*First female mayor in Afghanista
*First female mayor has been appointe
BBC PersianInterview with the first female mayor*Azra Jafari amon
*A letter to Donald Trump
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jafari, Uzra
Living people
1978 births
21st-century Afghan women politicians
21st-century Afghan politicians
Hazara politicians
Women mayors of places in Afghanistan