Habiba Sarabi

Habiba Sarobi
Habiba Sarobi as Governor of Bamyan in April 2011
Governor of Bamyan, Afghanistan
In office 23 March 2005 – 14 October 2013
Preceded by	Mohammad Rahim Aliyar
Succeeded by	Ghulam Ali Wahdat
2nd Minister of Women's Affairs
In office July 2002 – December 2004
Preceded by	Sima Samar
Succeeded by	Massouda Jalal
Personal details
Born	1956 Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan
Political party	Truth and Justice
Religion	Islam

Dr. Habiba Sarobi (Persian: حبیبه سرابی‎‎) (born 1956) is a hematologist, politician, and reformer of the post-Taliban reconstruction of Afghanistan. In 2005, she was appointed as Governor of Bamyan Province by President Hamid Karzai, which made her the first Afghan woman to become a governor of any province in the country. She previously served as Afghanistan's Minister of Women's Affairs as well as Minister of Culture and Education. Sarobi has been instrumental in promoting women's rights and representation and environment issues. She belongs to the ethnic Hazara people of Afghanistan. Her last name is sometimes spelled Sarabi or Sarubi.

Sarobi was born in Mazari Sharif and spent her youth traveling around the country with her father. She later moved to Kabul to attend high school and study medicine at university. After graduating, she was awarded a fellowship by the World Health Organization and moved to India to complete her studies in hematology.

During the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Dr. Sarobi and her children fled to Peshawar, Pakistan, but returned frequently in secret. Her husband stayed behind in Kabul to care for his family. She also worked underground as a teacher for girls, both secretly in Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Pakistan for Afghan refugees. In 1998, she joined the Afghan Institute of Learning and eventually became the General Manager of the entire organization. She was also the Vice President of Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan.