| Adela Raz | |
| Office: | Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States |
| President: | Ashraf Ghani |
| Term Start: | 26 July 2021 |
| Term End: | 18 February 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Roya Rahmani |
| Successor: | Office abolished |
| Office1: | Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations |
| Term Start1: | 31 December 2018 |
| Term End1: | 1 June 2021 |
| Predecessor1: | Mahmoud Saikal |
| Successor1: | Ghulam M. Isaczai |
| Education: | Simmons University (BA) Tufts University (MA) |
Adela Raz (born 1986) is an Afghan politician who was the last ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United States from July 2021 to February 2022. She was also the first woman to serve as Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations.
Raz's father was killed by the Taliban because he was perceived as too progressive.
Raz has a BA with majors in International Relations, Political Science and Economics from Simmons University in Boston, and an MA in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University.[1] [2] [3] She was the first Afghan to gain a H-1B visa.[3]
Raz worked from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.[1] From 2010 until 2013, she worked with an international development organization in the US.[1] She is an advocate for gender equality, women's education and human rights.[3] She has worked to assist women develop sustainable work and participate in society.[3]
In 2013, she was appointed Deputy Spokesperson and Director of Communications to President Hamid Karzai, the first woman to hold the positions.[1] [4] [5] She became Chief of Staff in November 2014 and was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Cooperation in March 2016 at age 30.[1] [6] [7] In March 2018, she was part of a delegation of Afghan women to visit Washington DC, where she spoke about the need for more women in Afghan political life and the need for the rest of the world to consider them partners, not merely victims or recipients of aid.[8]
On 31 December 2018, President Ashraf Ghani appointed Raz as Afghanistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, replacing Ambassador Mahmoud Saikal. She is the first woman to hold the position.[2] [9] [10] [11] In March 2019, she was unanimously selected as vice president of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.[12]
Raz was appointed the Afghan ambassador to the United States on 26 July 2021.[13] Following the 2021 fall of Kabul that toppled the Islamic Republic and ushered in the return of the Taliban, Raz continued in her post despite the previous Afghan government no longer having control over the country. On 18 February 2022, Raz was reported to have resigned from her ambassadorial position.[14]
On 14 April 2022, Raz was announced as director of the newly established Afghanistan Policy Lab, an Afghanistan-focused policy institute. The lab is a joint venture between Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs and the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination.[15]
She is married to Matin Bek, former Chief of Staff to President Ashraf Ghani.[16]