Habiba Sarobi

Dr. Habiba Sarobi (Persian: حبیبه سرابی‎‎) (born 1956) is a hematologist, politician, and reformer of the post-Taliban reconstruction of Afghanistan. In 2005, she was appointed as Governor of Bamyan Province by President Hamid Karzai, which made her the first Afghan woman to become a governor of any province in the country. She previously served as Afghanistan's Minister of Women's Affairs as well as Minister of Culture and Education. Sarobi has been instrumental in promoting women's rights and representation and environment issues. She belongs to the ethnic Hazara people of Afghanistan. Her last name is sometimes spelled Sarabi or Sarubi.

Sarobi 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 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 Afghanistan, Dr. Sarobi 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 for Afghan refugees. 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, Sarobi 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, Bamiyan continues to remain one of the poorest and most under-developed provinces of Afghanistan, with a litany of problems including high rates of illiteracy and poverty.

In 2008 Time Magazine included her in its list of Heroes of the Environment (2008), partly for her work in establishing the Band-e Amir National Park of Afghanistan in Bamiyan.^[1]

See also

• Bamyan Province she is the second deputy of Dr Zalmai Rassoul in Afghanistan Presidential elections of 2014
• Azra Jafari, Afghanistan's first female mayor

References

1. ↑ Time Magazine October 6th 2008. See Time Magazine web page

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Habiba Sarobi.

• Biography on the Global Fund website
• Biography on Salon.com
• BBC article on her appointment as governor
• BBC article on her impending appointment
• NPR Report: Female Governor Fights Lonely Battle in Afghanistan
• EurasiaNet: Afghanistan's First Female Governor Strives to Change Attitudes and Habits

 title=Minister of Women's Affairs, Afghanistan

Governors of the provinces of Afghanistan Badakhshan Munshi Abdul Majid (2007–2009) Baz Mohammad Ahmadi (2009–) Badghis Gul Mohammad Arefi (2001–2005) Enayatullah Enayat (2005–2007) Mohammad Ashraf Naseri Dilbar Jan Arman Shinwari (2009–) Baghlan Mohammad Akbar Barakzai (2009–2010) Munshi Abdul Majid (2010–) Balkh Atta Muhammad Nur (2004–) Bamyan Habiba Sarabi (2005–) Daykundi Qurban Ali Oruzgani (2010–) Farah Roohul Amin (2008–2012) Mohammad Akram Khpalwak (2012-2014) Mohammad Asif Nang (2015-) Faryab Abdul Haq Shafaq (2006–) Ghazni Asadullah Khalid (2001–2005) Sher Alam Ibrahimi (2005–2006) Faizanullah Faizan (2007–2008) Osman Osmani (2008–2010) Musa Khan Ahmadzai (2010–) Ghor Ibrahim Malikzada (2001–2004) Abdul Qadir Alam (2004–2005) Shah Abdul Ahad Afzali (2005–2007) Baz Mohammad Ahmadi (2007–2009) Mohammad Eqbal Munib (2009–) Helmand Sher Mohammad Akhundzada (2001–2005) Mohammad Daoud (2005–2006) Assadullah Wafa (2006–2008) Mohammad Gulab Mangal (2008–) Herat Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani (2009–2010) Daud Shah Saba (2010–) Jowzjan Mohammad Hashim Zare (2007-2010) Alhaj Baymorad Qoyunly (July 2013 - ) Kabul Haji Din Mohammad (2004–2009) Zabihullah Mojaddidy (2009–2011) Ahmadullah Alizai (2011-) Kandahar Gul Agha Sherzai (2001–2003) Yousef Pashtun (2003–2005) Asadullah Khalid (2005–2008) Rahmatullah Raufi (2008–2008) Tooryalai Wesa (2008–) Kapisa Ghulam Qawis Abubaker (2007–) Khost Arsala Jamal (2006–2008) Hamidullah Qalandarzai (2008–2009) Abdul Jabbar Naeemi (2010–) Kunar Fazlullah Wahidi (2007–2013) Shuja ul-Mulk Jalala (2013-2014) Mohammad Omar Safi (2014-) Kunduz Engineer Mohammad Omar (2006–2010) Muhammad Anwar Jigdaleg (2010-) Laghman Mohammad Golab Mangal (2006–08) Lutfullah Mashal (2008–2010) Mohammad Iqbal Azizi (2010–) Logar Fazlullah Mojadeddi (2001–2004) Mohammad Aman Hamimi (2004–2005) Sayed Abdul Karim Hashimi (2005–2007) Abdullah Wardak (2007–2008) Atiqullah Ludin (2008–) Nangarhar Abdul Qadir (2001–2002) Haji Din Mohammad (2002–04) Gul Agha Sherzai (2004–) Nimruz Abdul Karim Brahui (2001–2005) Ghulam Dastagir Azad (2005–2010) Abdul Karim Brahui (2010– ) Nuristan Jamaluddin Badr (2008–) Oruzgan Jan Mohammed Khan (2002–2006) Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib (2006–2007) Assadullah Hamdam (2007–2010) Mohammad Sherzad (2010-) Paktia Pacha Khan Zadran (2001–2002) Taj Mohammad Wardak (2002–2002) Raz Mohammed Dalili (2002–04) Assadullah Wafa (2004–05) Hakim Taniwal (2005–2006) Rahmatullah Rahmat (2006–2007) Juma Khan Hamdard (2007–) Paktika Mohibullah Samim (2010–2014) Abdul Karim Matin (2015–) Panjshir Keramuddin Keram (2010–) Parwan Abdul Basir Salangi (2009–) Samangan Khairullah Anosh (2010–) Sar-e Pol Anwar Rahmati (2010–2012) Abdul Jabar Haqbeen (2012-) Takhar Abdul Jabbar Taqwa (2010–) Wardak Abdul Jabbar Naeemi (2005–2008) Mohammad Halim Fidai (2008–) Zabul Mohammad Ashraf Naseri (2009–)