Profile

Afghan Women's Affairs Minister Mas'uda Jalal (AFP)

Name: Mas'uda Jalal

Nationality: Afghan

Date of Birth: 1950

Education: studied elementary and high schools in Pole Khomry, where her father was a clerk; studied in the medical faculty in Kabul

Occupation: Afghanistan's minister for women's affairs; has worked as a physician in a number of Kabul hospitals; under the Taliban regime, she worked for United Nations development programs; was the first-ever female presidential candidate in country's landmark 2004 election, finishing sixth with 1.1 percent of the vote

Family: Married, with three children