8 March 2010 - On International Women’s Day, UNAMA brings you stories of women who have not just beaten the odds, but triumphed and are, now, making a difference for their gender across the country.

Meet Mahgul Yamam, a 56-year-old successful lawyer and a rights activist.

After graduating from Kabul University’s law faculty in 1980, she took up an internship with the country’s Supreme Court and then joined a governmental urban development sector where she worked for 10 years as a contracts officer.

With the eruption of chaos caused by Kabul’s long and deadly civil war, she fled to Mazar-i-Sharif with her family, where she has now continued to stay for 18 years.

Ms Yamam then joined the Balkh Court and worked in different positions – such as defence lawyer, appellate prosecutor, juvenile prosecutor, civil prosecutor and special prosecutor for counter-narcotics – during the first 14 years of her stay in Mazar-i-Sharif.

In 2006, she quit her prosecutor’s job due to “widespread corruption” in the legal system.

“It was outrageous. I just couldn’t take it anymore. But even as a defence lawyer I had to resist against corrupt officials. I had almost no support,” she said.

After quitting her job in the court, she decided to become a legal advisor to the Balkh Provincial Department of Women Affairs.

“Women are more vulnerable in court than men are. They are mistreated and are not listened to. In the legal advisor’s job I could do so much more, I could play a more effective role and help women in court” she added.

Among her other achievements, Ms Yamam was also appointed as team leader for the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) in the northern region during the last presidential and provincial council elections.

Despite all the difficulties she has faced, Mahgul Yamam is still very optimistic about the situation of women in Afghanistan, which she describes as “developing, although very slowly, but still very promising.”

Ms Yamam also manages to balance her professional life successfully with her private life. She’s married and has four children. Her eldest son, who is 20-years-old, is also on his way to becoming a lawyer.

Among her future plans, she wants to focus her efforts on spreading awareness about women’s rights and educating women in the community.

“It is not easy, but we have to start somewhere. It will definitely take a lot to achieve the goal of building a community (that is) free of gender based violence,” she tells other women’s rights activists on International Women’s Day.

By Sayed Barez, UNAMA