# Hamida Aman

Hamida, an Afghan media entrepreneur and founder of the Begum Organization for Women, has made significant contributions to Afghan women's rights. Her work has not gone unnoticed. In 2024, she was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 inspirational women, a testament to the global impact of her efforts.

## Biography

Hamida is an Afghan media entrepreneur and founder of Begum Organization for Women.
Despite the upheaval, Hamida's resilience shone through. Born in Kabul on April 26th 1974, she and her family fled the country due to the war, finding refuge in Switzerland when she was six. She grew up in Lausanne, studied journalism, and worked for the Swiss press. When the Taliban regime fell at the end of 2001, Hamida made a bold decision not to leave again. Instead, she rushed to Kabul, where she worked for various international NGOs supporting Afghan media's development.
In 2004, she created Awaz ("the voice" in the Dari language), a small audiovisual production company, which within a few years became a significant actor in Afghanistan's media and entertainment industry, renowned for the quality of its work and its creativity.
In 2020, together with a few friends and colleagues, she founded the Begum Organization for Women. This organization aims to defend Afghan women's rights through various media: radio, web, and TV. It holds a significant place in Afghan history as a platform for advocating women's rights in the face of adversity.
When American forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, Hamida had already launched a radio station, Radio Begum, in the preceding March. The Taliban's approach to governance led to what was later termed gender apartheid, as women were excluded from public life, and secondary schools and universities were reserved for boys and men. In this context, the mission of Radio Begum, to educate girls excluded by gender apartheid from public education, became not just important, but urgent.

### Awaz Communication

In 2004, Hamida Aman founded the audiovisual production company Awaz Communication, which is dedicated to supporting the development of Afghan institutions and media. She appointed Arif Ahmadi as the director of the Kabul office. The company grew to employ up to 150 people, strongly emphasizing hiring women. One of its most successful productions was the reality TV show Réaction, which embedded itself with police patrols and gained significant popularity.

### Radio Begum

Radio Begum is an activist project created by women for women.
On March 8, 2021, to mark International Women's Rights Day, and as the looming return of the Taliban threatened women's freedoms, Hamida Aman launched Radio Begum, an Afghan radio station made by women, for women. The word Begum means "princess," "woman of high rank. According to Aman, "This radio is a vessel for women's voices, their pain, their frustrations."
Broadcasting 24/7 on FM frequencies from Kabul and across 19 provinces, Radio Begum has become the country's leading private radio station in terms of audience and coverage. It operates with an all-female team of 30 women, including journalists, reporters, educators, and health specialists. The station airs six hours of educational programming daily, along with shows on health, psychotherapy, spirituality, and entertainment for women.

### Begum Academy

Launched in November 2023, this initiative aims to make education accessible to Afghan middle and high school girls deprived of schooling since August 2021. More broadly, it seeks to support education for the Afghan population as a whole.
The Begum Academy digital platform was specifically designed to be user-friendly for an audience with limited digital literacy. It features an ergonomic design and allows students to access educational content on smartphones, tablets, or computers.