fawzia koofi in kabul, welcome to hardtalk., you had a very interesting start in life, if i can put it that way. you were your mother's eighth child. she was desperate for a boy. she didn't want to see you when she gave birth to you and asked for somebody to take you out so you could die in the sun. after hours and hours of screaming, somebody rescues you, takes you back to your mother. she's overcome with guilt, and she keeps you. so, how on earth did your mother become your heroine? thank you. my mother as a woman has gone under extreme discrimination in her life living in afghanistan. yet she didn't want to have another woman to experience the same experiences she had. so, therefore, when i was born... my mother, my father was, of course, multi—marriage, and the other woman of my father delivered a son baby. in order for my mother to regain the love of my father, she also wanted a son because a son is most favoured in afghanistan's family, when the woman deliver a son. so, my mother wanted to have a son, and it was me. she d

fawzia koofi's political career began after the fall of the taliban in 2001. she's worked tirelessly for women's equality at home and in the workplace, and to help girls get back to school. >> they removed bullet from here. deh sentence from the militants. and fawzia herself has survived two assassination attempts. today, she worries about the american withdrawal. >> i feel like a lot of uncertainty, things that will be unpredictable. uncertainty in terms of what will happen to the women. >> reporter: can i ask, do you feel betrayed? >> i must say that, yes, it has become not only a strategic failure for our international frieovth they claim they'll allow girls to attend school, but many are unconvinced. a new generation here has been given something denied of their mothers -- an education. female enrollment in secondary schools grew fro 39% in 2017. there are many front lines in afghanistan. this is a key one. women, girls, learning in school. something the taliban banned. and something they're fighting for, equality in afghanistan. for these girls, their hop