For Gulafrooz Ebteka, the first woman police officer in Afghanistan to have a Masters degree, education is everything and she has been encouraging women to have education so that they can stand on their own and get valued for themselves and not as some one’s daughter, sister or wife.
Growing up in Daikondi province, where education opportunities are very much limited, she had a determination to join the police force so that she could do many things for the society, especially women.
Gulafrooz, 26, is the first woman police officer in Afghanistan to hold a master’s degree in Military Science. She grew up in Daikondi province, one of the poorest parts of Afghanistan, where educational opportunities are limited. She was quoted as saying in the UN website that she went to Kabul to get her ambitions realised as the place where she grew up had less opportunities. She said that she joined the police force in Kabul and also studied Russian with a scholarship. She has also won an award for her research on upbringing offenders’ children.
She studied security sciences and criminal law so that she could become a role model for other female police personnel in her country. Stating that working in the police force was a challenge, she said that her family and mother supported her very much.
She also said that her mother was her greatest teacher as she helped her to follow her ambitions. When education was much difficult in many parts of the country, it was her family who stood with her for getting her good education. Though the neighbourhood was full of criticism against the family for giving children education, she says that it was her father who took the initiative in giving education to his children.
Apart from Gulafrooz, her brother and sister are also in the police force.
Turkey and Afghanistan entered into an agreement for training of Afghan National Police since 2011. UNDP facilitated the seventh term of female ANP training programme in November 2018. One hundred and sixty four female recruits got training. Apart from this, UNDP also facilitated the first Training of Trainers) in which 20 women were given training.
The Afghan National Police force has about 3,0000 policewomen, of which 680 were trained through UNDP’s programme.
