Farida Momand (born 14 January 1965) is an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

doctor and politician who serves as Minister of Higher Education.

Early life and education

Momand was born in 1965 in the

Momand Dara District Momand Dara is a district in the east of Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan. Its population, which is 100% Pashtun, was estimated at 33,966 in 2002, of whom 14,800 were children under the age of 12. The district is within the he ...

Nangarhar Province Nangarhār (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also called Nangrahar or Ningrahar, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country and Border, bordering Logar Province, Logar, Kabul Province, Kabul, Laghman Province, Laghm ...

. She is of

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

descent. She studied at

Rabia Balkhi Rabia Balkhi (, ) also known as Rabia al-Quzdari (or Khuzdari), was a 10th-century writer who composed poetry in Persian and Arabic. She is the first known female poet to write in Persian. A non- mystic poet, her imagery was later transformed ...

High School and received a BA in Medicine from

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; ) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 by King Mohammed Nadir Shah, wh ...

Career

Momand is a medical doctor and has worked in several government hospitals. She was a professor at

Kabul Medical University Kabul Medical University (Pashto د کابل طبي پوهنتون / Persian: دانشگاه طبي کابل; formerly known as Kabul Medical Institute) is located in Kabul, Afghanistan on the campus of Kabul University. The medical institution ...

. Her husband was a spokesman for the

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...

which sought to keep the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

from power. When the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996, the family received death threats and fled to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. They returned in November 2001, when Kabul was liberated. Momand returned to the medical school and was appointed

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

. She was also elected to represent female university students and employees. Momand was one of more than 400 candidates for

Kabul Province Kabul (Dari/Pashto: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...

in the 2005 parliamentary election. She was also a candidate for the 2009 provincial election and the 2010 parliamentary election. Momand was appointed as Minister of Higher Education in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

of President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

in April 2015. As Minister, she called for transparency in university examinations, advocated for women in scholarship, and supported the launch of the first programs in

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

and

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

at Kabul University. In 2016, the

Wolesi Jirga The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga (), was the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper House of Elders. The House of Representatives of t ...

began

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

proceedings for ministers who had failed to spend more than 70% of their development budgets for the year. Momand was one of seven ministers dismissed over four days. She was summoned to report on her development budget spending for the year and when she did not appear on the day, was dismissed in her absence. President Ghani called the dismissals "unjustifiable" and urged the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

to intervene, while

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah (Dari language, Dari, , ; born Abdullah; 5 September 1960) is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government was Fall of Kabul (2021), ...

urged the ministers to keep working until the relevant

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

al article was interpreted.

Personal life

Momand is married to Habib Rayed and they have five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Momand, Farida Living people 1965 births 21st-century Afghan women politicians 21st-century Afghan politicians Kabul University alumni Academic staff of Kabul University Afghan physicians Pediatricians Women pediatricians Pashtun women Women government ministers of Afghanistan