Dr. Sima Samar, the striving daughter of Afghanistan has won 2012 Alternative Noble Prize. She has been awarded the prize for her decades-long efforts "under constant danger to her life" and her "courage and commitment in one of the world's most unstable regions."

Sima Samar is not only the chairman of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) but is also the founder of Shuhada Organization that operates more than one hundred schools, 15 hospitals and outpatient clinics in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sima Simar served Afghan refugees, for years, in Pakistan in their worst times.

After the ouster of Taliban in 2001, she has been working tirelessly for women rights in Afghanistan and for equipping Afghan girls with the weapon of education – their need of time. She, indeed, well deserves the Alternative Noble Prize and many other prizes that she has received during her career.

Sima Samar is a woman from Afghanistan where women have been suppressed for centuries. And where still they continue to suffer the worst as this country falls in the list of countries that are the worst for women to live in. The last decade brought many achievements for Afghan women, the biggest of which is their freedom from Taliban – a regime that treated women like animals and had made them prisoners in their homes.

Despite the noteworthy achievements by Afghan women, for a wide majority of female population nothing has changed and they have to obey rules that are not different from those practiced by Taliban. The Afghan constitution has given women their due rights.

But still raising voice and working for women rights and equality in Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and need devotion, determination and sacrifice. Keeping such ground realities in view; one can realize the dignity of efforts and sacrifice made by Dr. Sima Samar who is called the 'doctor poor' in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has been suffering the worst in the last three decades. Challenges remain solid for this country. Today, Afghanistan is in need of bold and dedicated individuals such as Sima Samar to revive from the destructions caused by decades of conflict. A country where violations of human rights are taken so easy, only people like her can improve the condition. The world has realized the value of what Dr. Sima Samar has been doing for us. Now, it is time for us to acclaim her.