Massouda Jalal is a politician of Afghanistan and served as Minister of Women’s Affairs from 2004 to 2006. She is also the only woman candidate in 2004 Afghan Presidential elections. Jalal is a psychiatrist and pediatrician. She has also worked at several hospitals in Kabul. In 1998 she worked as United Nations employee with the World Food Program. She created the Jalal Foundation in 2007 which is the first women-led initiative of its type in Afghanistan’s history. The aim of the foundation is to promote, empower and educate Afghani women. The foundation seeks programs to educate and train women while healing them from post-war trauma and promote peace. The activities of the Foundation also include as offering scholarships for women in higher studies, skill training courses and organizing seminars and conferences to spread awareness about women’s rights. She is considered a champion of peace, democracy and human rights in Afghanistan.

Jalal is a recipient of various international awards including the Leadership Award for Outstanding Contribution to Women Upliftment from the World CSR Congress. She received the UN Watch Human Rights Award. In 2014 she also received Outstanding Visionary Women Leadership Award from World Women Leadership Congress.

Kubra Noorzai was appointed the first female minister of Afghanistan between 1965 and 1969. She was the head of Ministry of Public Health. Her courage and hard work along with other women created a spark of hope among women of the country. She became the head teacher and later head of the Women’s Faculty at Kabul University. She later moved to France where she served as a Director of Feminine Charitable Institute in Kabul. She was an Afghan Delegate at UNESCO and also the International Women’s Congress meeting in Dublin. In 1964 she was appointed to an advisory committee that grants women the right to vote and stand for election.