Adela Raz

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.

Early life and education Raz's father was killed by the Taliban because he was perceived as too progressive. She was the first Afghan to gain an H-1B visa. She became Chief of Staff in November 2014 and was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Cooperation in March 2016 at age 30. 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.

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. 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.

Raz was appointed the Afghan ambassador to the United States on 26 July 2021. 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.

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.

Personal life She is married to Matin Bek, former Chief of Staff to Afghan former President Ashraf Ghani.