Meeto Award: First Afghan female mayor awarded for her work

ISLAMABAD:
Azra Jafari, the first female mayor in Afghanistan, was awarded the Meeto Memorial Award (MMA) at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Thursday for her work.
People from different countries of South Asia attended the award ceremony, which was organised by the MMA trust in collaboration with NGOs Rozan and Sungi. Asma Jahangir, General Secretary Supreme Court Bar Association, and Hameeda Hossain, women rights’ activist from Bangladesh, were also present at the occasion.
Jafari was chosen for the award because of her work and commitment towards social development. In December 2008, after being appointed the major of Nili, she became the first female mayor in Afghanistan.
The first MMA was given in 2009 to Anusheh Anadil, a Bangladeshi singer and peace activist, during an award ceremony in New Delhi. The 2010 MMA award was given to Akeela Naz from Pakistan.
The award was set up in the memory of Meeto (Kamaljit Bhasin-Malik), an Indian scholar and activist.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2011.