BBC’s 100 inspiring women: Half of them are Afghan
This year's list recognises the scope of the bravery and achievements of Afghan women as they are forced to reset their lives
Women from Afghanistan have made up half of BBC's list of 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the world.
The BBC has revealed this year's list on Tuesday which highlights women who are reinventing our society, culture and world.
Among them are Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Samoa's first female prime minister Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa, Professor Heidi J Larson, who heads The Vaccine Confidence Project, and acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
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There are 50 Afghan women on the list.
Some women from Afghanistan appear under pseudonyms and without photos for their own safety.
This year's list recognises the scope of their bravery and their achievements as they are forced to reset their lives.
Besides, three women from Pakistan, two from India and two from Myanmar have also appeared in the list, alongside women from 31 other countries.
Rights groups have spoken up about how the recent events in the country have left millions of Afghans sceptical about their future, women wary that their freedom might dissolve under the Taliban.
With the ministry for women's affairs in the country being demobilized, and women forced not to return to work, and girls banned from receiving secondary education, the lives of millions of Afghans have taken a turn since August 2021.
Keeping alignment with this year's theme - women who are hitting "reset", BBC's network of World Service languages teams shortlisted candidates who had made headlines or influenced important stories, alongside those who have inspiring stories to tell, achieved something significant or influenced their societies in ways that wouldn't necessarily make the news, over the last 12 months.
By highlighting 50 women who are either from Afghanistan or work in the country, BBC wanted to call attention to how many of these women have been forced to exit areas of public life; this was also to reverberate the voices of those who are being silenced or are suffering the current Afghan diaspora.
