Afghanistan’s first female local leader since the Taliban, Sakhra Sheikib, assumes her post: Report
Afghanistan head of Human Rights Commision Seema Samar (C) marches with Afghan women to protest the recent public execution of a young woman for alleged adultery, in Kabul on July 11, 2012. Dozens of Afghan women’s rights activists took to the streets to protest the recent public execution of a young woman for alleged adultery, which was captured in a horrific video.
Sakhra Sheikib, Afghanistan's first female local government head since the anti-women Taliban days, has reportedly started her post as director of the northern Haja Dokuh district, Russian media today cited Afghanistan's local Tolo TV as reporting.
There was no other immediate confirmation of the reports.
Sheikib's assignment sees her the first woman to run a district administration in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban ten years ago, according The Voice of Russia, citing Tolo. Haja Dokuh is located in Afghanistan's northern Jowzjan province.
“My key priority will be to make it easier for people to get access to education, health services and other spheres of life,” Tolo quoted Sheikib as saying, reported The Voice of Russia.
Sheikib likely faces a tough road ahead in Afghanistan. Women in the conservative Islamic country are often attacked, routinely discriminated against and denied basic rights like education and equal treatment before the law.
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