: First Person: ‘We are the hope, we are the power keeping Afghanistan together’ #IndiaNEWS #International Mahbouba Sera, one of the world’s most prominent women’s rights activists, chose to

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First Person: ‘We are the hope, we are the power keeping Afghanistan together’ #IndiaNEWS #International
Mahbouba Sera, one of the world’s most prominent women’s rights activists, chose to stay in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, to witness what was happening to her country, and to work for a society that benefits all of its people.





“The first nights and days were especially horrible. Afghanistan was turning into chaos—people were running everywhere; offices were closing. It was all happening in front of my eyes.
In 24 hours a democracy we worked for over a 20-year period crumbled. The first thought I had in mind was what is going to happen to the women of Afghanistan? What were we going to do? 15 August was the day the women of Afghanistan started to become non-human, the day when we knew there was no place for women’s rights anywhere anymore.
I was forced once in my life to leave my country, in 1978. I was young, I had a lot of energy and I wanted to stay in Afghanistan; but because of the forces that came to power I had to leave. This time, it was different—now, I am an Afghan American citizen. I felt it was not time to leave Afghanistan, to leave my sisters, to leave everyone I loved and cared about. I knew they had nothing else. I thought my presence would give them strength—that is why I decided to stay; I decided not to be a refugee again.
‘This too shall pass’
In my life, I have also always wanted to be a witness—a lot of Afghanistan’s history happened in front of my eyes. I am 74 years old; I’ve seen beauty and disasters, achievements and destruction, and everything in between. I wanted to stay and remind everyone that, like everything else in history, this too shall pass.
The lives of Afghan women have changed 180 degrees. As the democracy for which we had worked so hard disappeared, so did the work that we did as Afghan women for our country disappearing at the same time. The women of Afghanistan went from existence—from being part of society, from working, from being part of every aspect of life as doctors, judges, nurses, engineers, women running offices—to nothing. Everything they had, even the most basic right to go to high school, was taken away from them. That to me is an indication that they do not want us to exist. Our brothers are not helping us; we are left alone and what is happening is that we are becoming extinct.






UNAMA/Shamsuddin Hamedi
Women and children have been the most impacted by the current humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.


‘We exist, and we are here’
Afghan women are some of the most resourceful and strong women in the world: their resilience is unbreakable.

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