Afghan women

"What makes me hopeful about women's rights in Afghanistan is that women themselves, they have their own voice," Roya Rahmani, Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., tells NPR.

Afghan Ambassador Roya Rahmani: 'We Will Not Be Going Back To The Time Prior To 2001'

12:31pm March 08, 2019

by Gabriel Dunatov

Roya Rahmani is Afghanistan's first woman ambassador to the U.S. "What makes me hopeful about women's rights in Afghanistan is that women themselves, they have their own voice," she tells NPR.

U.S. and Taliban negotiators meet in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 26.

'This Is Not The Way': Afghan Women Push Back On U.S.-Taliban Peace Talks

8:03pm March 05, 2019

by Malaka Gharib

Afghan women and young people say the peace negotiations exclude their wants and needs. "The U.S. is negotiating with a group that's notorious for denying women basic human rights," says one activist.

A boy holds the burqa of his mother as they walk down a street in the old city of Kabul on November 1, 2009.

Opinion: As U.S. Seeks To Withdraw Troops, What About Afghanistan's Women?

8:07am February 02, 2019

by Scott Simon

The U.S. and the Taliban are working on an agreement to end the war and bring troops home. But NPR's Scott Simon asks: what will happen to Afghanistan's women if the Taliban return to power?

Lubna Olayan in her office at Olayan Financing Company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April.

World News

Lubna Olayan Broke Saudi Arabia's Glass Ceiling. Now She Wants More Women To Work

4:56pm May 01, 2018

The influential Saudi CEO discusses what she's done to get more women working.

Queue Listen Now

A group of Afghan women are attempting to reach the 24,580-foot summit this summer. In mid-May, two of the climbers, along with two American chaperones, visited Afghanistan's highest mountain to see the terrain firsthand in preparation for the historic cl

World News

For Afghan Women Mountaineers, Uphill Battles Begin Before The Climb

11:52am June 09, 2015

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Scaling Afghanistan's tallest mountain will be difficult enough. But Afghan female climbers and their American guides also face civil war, red tape and cultural taboos.

Queue Listen Now

Eighteen-year-old Zahra Karimi Nooristani dangles precariously off a rock face high above Kabul.

World News

The Ascent Of Afghan Women

4:47pm March 31, 2015

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Afghanistan is a mountainous land where mountain climbing is rare among men and virtually nonexistent among women. An American is now preparing young Afghan women to scale the country's highest peak.

Queue Listen Now