Afghan Biographies

Quraishi, Col Shafiqa Mrs.


Name Quraishi, Col Shafiqa Mrs.
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth
Function/Grade Chief of Gender and Human Rights Division Ministry of Interi
History and Biodata

3. Biodata:
quraishi_shafiqaMrs. Col. Shafiqa Quraishi graduated from the Police Academy 1982. Serving in the ANP for almost 28 years, most recently as the Chief of Gender and Human Rights Division in MoI, Shafiqa has worked to make the ANP a safer place for women to work and serve. Under her guidance, the MOI now offers female police choice over assignment location, limited to no nighttime shifts, and female basic trainees are allowed to return to their homes at night. Shafiqa also travels frequently to remote provinces, where policewomen are more isolated and have less support structures, to listen to the challenges they face and to resolve concerns. Her rapid rise inside the police hierarchy began in 2002, after the fall of the Taliban. In her own way, she is the beacon for the 1,173 female officers in Afghanistan. She is one of three female police colonels in all of Afghanistan. (20110801)

Colonel Quraishi has received many death threats over the years. Other high-ranked female police officers have been murdered in the past. In the fall of 2008, the female lieutenant-colonel Malalai Kakar was killed in Kandahar, where the Taliban remain powerful. Is it good enough reason to be pessimistic? Colonel Quraishi has been handed optimistic reports stating that the Taliban have changed, or at least, evolved. But she remains stony-faced: “I don’t know. I am still worried.” (20110801)

During the MOI women’s day ceremony, Shafiqa officially opened the new Gender Complaint Registration Office, which will allow women an avenue for reporting discrimination, security problems and official complaints. Col. Quraishi is also the winner of the 2010 U.S. Dept of State International Women of Courage (IWOC) award. She won because of her work in integrating women into the Afghan government and police force.

Last Modified 2011-08-01
Established 2010-03-19