The Columbus Dispatch’s Jessica Wehrman had the right woman but the wrong school in her March 26 story on “Afghanistan president’s address to Congress provokes memories from one Ohio veteran.”
The Friends of the American University of Afghanistan points out that Khatera Afghan is an Ohio University alum, having earned a Master of Public Administration from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and a Women’s and Gender Studies Certificate from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University.
Wehrman wrote:
When Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai appeared before Congress Wednesday, he gave a special shout-out to Ohio.
Specifically, talking about women’s rights in the nation, he mentioned Khatera Afghan, a young lady from Kandahar who went to school despite receiving threats of disfigurement by her neighbors and threats of disownment form her uncle.
The girl eventually went to the American University of Afghanistan, then, aided by a Fulbright scholarship, went on to get her master’s degree from the Ohio State University.
“Today, Khatera’s formerly angry uncle is so proud of her that he tells his grandchildren, both little boys and little girls, that they must all be as brave as their aunt Khatera,” he said. Read the rest of the story in the Columbus Dispatch.
Earlier this year, Afghan was nominated by President Ashraf Ghani to be Minister of Higher Education, but had to deal with her passport and a minimum age question.
At the end of January, the Afghanistan Parliament reject most of Ghani’s cabinet nominations, including Afghan. She was the only woman still up for nomination after two other women nominees were disqualified.
In February, Afghan women protest at absence of female ministers in new cabinet and “women take to the streets of Kabul after pre-election promises of fair gender representation fail to materialise in ministerial appointments.
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