Qadriya Yazdanparast (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: قدریه یزدان‌پرست) 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 ...

politician and a commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Before joining the human rights commission she resigned from her leadership position at the Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan, a major political party, in order to fulfill the requirement of a commissioner to be non-political. She started her career during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

. She studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

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 ...

. Yazdanparast speaks

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Political and social career

After the fall of the Communist regime, president

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...

appointed her to director of the Afghan Women High Association that preceded the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs. During the war against 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) ...

, she fled to the northern part of the country, which was controlled by the United Islamic Front, also known as 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 ...

'. There she was able to keep her function and she continued her job and was the president of the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

Mazar-i-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highway ...

. she organised an international conference on women's rights in Afghanistan. While being in Mazar e Sharif, she also organised different secret teaching groups for women under the control of the Taliban. After the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, she asked for

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where she settled in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and started a study. After the fall of the

Taliban regime The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and informally known as the Taliban government, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is ...

in 2001 and upon the request of the former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani Qadriya Yazdanparast returned to Afghanistan and she could get a seat in the

National Assembly of Afghanistan The National Assembly (, ), also known as the Parliament of Afghanistan or simply as the Afghan Parliament, was the legislature of Afghanistan in various forms from the monarchy, republican, communist and liberal democratic periods between 1931 ...

where she was elected as chairwomen of Human Rights commission. She became a known person in Afghan "behind the doors" politics, having relations with different political groups. During her time in Parliament she was known as being a bridge between different political rivals. She has brought in several law proposals. The law 'Elimination of Violence Against Women' was her initiative. The earlier mentioned law is also known as the EVAW law.

Political ties

Qadriya Yazdanparast used her political ties with strong political leaders and heavyweights in order to draft laws for protecting women right in Afghanistan. With her religious background she did not face any opposition from the strong religious scholars in the country. The records of the Afghan lower house (Wolesi Jirga) mentions that the EVAW law (Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women) was her initiative while she was a member of Parliament.

Former positions

* Leadership position of The Jamiaat Party * Leader of Afghan Women High Association * Legal Advisor of former vice President * Presidential Adviser * Member of Afghan Parliament * Law professor at the University of Kabul

Other functions

Yazdanparast has had several other positions: * President of the 'Oldtown Kabul Committee': a committee that was founded by president Karzai to preserve the old city of Kabul * Legal Advisor * Writer and poet

Actual situation

Currently Qadriya Yazdanparast is a commissioner in the Afghanistan Independent Human Right Commission. She is in charge of Women Rights in the commission.

References

External links

Official website of Qadriya Yazdanparast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yazdanparast, Qadriya Living people Afghan human rights activists Women's rights in Afghanistan 21st-century Afghan women politicians 21st-century Afghan politicians 21st-century Afghan educators Afghan women educators Afghan women activists Year of birth missing (living people)