Habiba Sarabi

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Habiba Sarabi
Habiba Sarabi as Minister of Women's Affairs
Born	1956 Mazari Sharif, Balkh, Afghanistan
Occupation	Afghan politician

Dr. Habiba Sarabi (born 1956) is a hematologist, politician, and reformer of the post-Taliban reconstruction in Afghanistan. In 2005, she was appointed as governor of Bamyan Province by President Hamid Karzai — the first woman to ever be a governor of any province in the country. She previously served in his government as the Minister of Women's Affairs and as the Minister of Culture and Education and was instrumental in pushing for women's rights and representation. She is of Hazara descent. Her last name is sometimes spelled Sarobi.

She was born in Mazari Sharif and spent her youth traveling around the country with her father. She later moved to Kabul to attend high school and study medicine at the university. After graduating, she was awarded a fellowship by the World Health Organization and moved to India to complete her studies in hematology.

During the Taliban rule in the country, Habiba and her children fled to Peshawar, Pakistan but returned frequently in secret. (Her husband stayed behind in Kabul to care for his family.) She also worked underground as a teacher for girls, both secretly in Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Pakistan. In 1998, she joined the Afghan Institute of Learning and eventually became the General Manager of the entire organization. She was also the Vice President of Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan.

As governor, she has announced one of her focuses will be on tourism as a source of income. The province has historically been a source of Buddhist culture and was the location of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the two ancient statues destroyed by the Taliban prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. However, the province has many other problems including high rates of illiteracy and poverty.