Habiba Sarabi, one of the deputy chairpersons of the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC), was awarded the N-PEACE Award under Untold Story Category on Sunday in Thailand.
Sarabi was the first woman to become a governor in Afghanistan and served in the position in Bamiyan from 2005 to 2013.
The N-PEACE network said that Sarabi has been honored with the award for her unrelenting work to bring peace to Afghanistan, while ensuring attention is paid to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Her work spans over more than two decades and includes teaching girls in refugee camps while in exile in the 1990s in Pakistan, governor of Bamiyan, cabinet minister, and currently as a deputy chair of the HPC where she works to include women in the peace process.
The N-Peace Awards are coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme's N-Peace Network.
Meanwhile Afghanistan High Peace Council (HPC) held a meeting to praise Sarabi for winning the award and said this was a great achievement for the council.
Speaking at the meeting, an HPC deputy Abdulrahman Salim said Sarabi delivered good governance while employed as a female governor in Afghanistan.
The N-Peace is a multi-country network of peace advocates in Asia seeking to advance Women, Peace and Security issues.
In 1996, during the Taliban regime, Sarabi fled to Pakistan. In Pakistan she started secretly teaching girls in refugee camps. After the fall of the Taliban regime she served as governor of Bamiyan and then went on to serve as Minister of Women’s Affairs and Minister of Culture and Education.
Sarabi later became the advisor on Women’s Affairs and Youth to the Chief Executive Officer but now works for the HPC.