Despite moments of hopelessness and despair, Afghan women and girls showed resilience and innovation in our approaches to overcoming barriers in 2018. Here are a few of the many acts of courage we celebrate.
1. Despite threats of violence by Taliban and ISIS, millions of women voted in Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections – many for the first time.
2. A group of female coders created the first video game to fight opium production in Herat. Read our interview with the founder of the organization Fereshteh Forough here.
3. Adela Raz was appointed as Representative of the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations. She is the first woman to hold the key position and brings with her years of public service and diplomatic experience.
4. Saina Hamidi wrote a book about menstruation to increase awareness and fight stigma.
5. Members of Afghanistan Women’s National Football Team courageously told their stories of violence and abuse within the federation, sparking #MeTooAfghanistan and paving the way for others to raise their voices too.
6. Hosna Jalil became Afghanistan’s first woman serving in a senior security post after being appointed deputy for policy and strategic affairs at the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
7. A group of girls in Kabul City cycled against violence against women to commemorate 16 Days of activism against gender-based violence.
8. Shaesta Waiz, the first woman of Afghan heritage who is a certified civilian pilot and the youngest woman to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft, received the 2018 National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement.
9. Hanifa Yousoufi became the first Afghan woman to climb Mt. Noshaq, Afghanistan’s highest peak.
10. Afghan-American refugee Safiya Wazir won a state house race in New Hampshire.
11. Director Sahra Mani Mosawi released “A Thousand Girls Like Me,”
an award-winning film telling the story of sexual abuse and a young woman’s quest for justice in Afghanistan.
12. Jahantab, a young mother in Daikundi Province, went viral after a photo of her breastfeeding while taking university entrance exams was published online. She was admitted to a private university in Kabul with full scholarship.
13. Zainab Fayez, the only woman serving as a prosecutor in Kandahar, was recognized for resolving dozens of cases of abuse against women. She has helped detain 21 men accused of violence against women, including police officials.
14. Freshta Karim’s Charmaghz mobile library spread the love of reading throughout Kabul.
15. Breshna Musazai, a student at the American University of Afghanistan, graduated with honors after being shot by the Taliban during an attack on her college in 2016.
16. In Mazar-e-Sharif, members of Free Women Writers painted murals about the right to education as part of our #LetMeGoToSchool campaign
17. The all-girls robotics team, the Afghan Dreamers, won the 2018 Rookie Inspiration Award in FIRST World Championship in Detroit and first place in the International Entrepreneur Challenge at RoboRAVE International in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
18. Afghan journalist Malali Bashir launched a TV show connecting women in the diaspora with women in Afghanistan.