Mahnaz Afkhami
| Mahnaz Afkhami | |
|---|---|
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| Minister of State for Women and Family Affairs | |
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In office 2 September 1975 – 27 August 1978 |
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| Monarch | Mohammad-Reza Shah |
| Prime Minister |
Amir Abbas Hoveida Jamshid Amouzegar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 14, 1941 Kerman, Iran |
| Spouse(s) | Gholam Reza Afkhami |
| Education | University of Colorado (MA) |
| Occupation |
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| Known for |
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Mahnaz Afkhami (Persian: مهناز افخمی) is Founder and President of Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), the Executive Director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies and the former Minister of Women's Affairs in Iran's pre-Revolution government. She has lived in exile in the United States since 1979.
Having founded and headed several international non-governmental organizations focused on advancing the status of women, Afkhami has been an advocate of women's rights for more than three decades. She has lectured and published extensively on the international women’s movement, women's human rights, women in leadership, women and technology, the status of women in Muslim-majority societies and on women's participation in civil society-building and democratization. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and distributed internationally.
Afkhami's activism has focused primarily on:
At 17, Afkhami joined a trade union and successfully challenged a breach of her rights as a worker when an employer laid her off temporarily then rehired her to avoid paying for the vacation she had earned. She credits this incident with giving her the belief that organizing could bring about social change.
In 1975, Afkhami was asked to join the cabinet of the Iranian government and became Minister of Women's Affairs. The post had not existed in Iran before and the only other person holding such a position was Françoise Giroud in France.
In 2001, Afkhami published Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women to encourage women to be leaders in their families, communities, and countries. It has been translated into 20 languages. In 2010, she published Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women. The manuals have been used for training around the world, reaching thousands.
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