Fawzia Koofi is an Afghan parliamentary lawmaker, accomplished author, and internationally renowned advocate for women's and children's rights, democracy, and moderate Islam.

She is the first woman in the Afghan parliament to be elected Second Deputy Speaker, and was the head of the parliament's Women's Affairs Committee. Koofi has not only humanized the otherwise faceless debate on the struggles and abuses of Afghan women but has also been the first to raise awareness in the international community, especially after the return of the Taliban to power in 2021.

She started her political career in 2001, when she began promoting a "back to school" campaign aimed at securing Afghan women's rights to education. In 2002 she started working as a child protection officer for UNICEF, and in 2005 she was elected parliamentary representative for Badakhshan province, her home region in the rural mountains of northern Afghanistan.