young girl and leaves
"In 2017, I met Fatima at the Muna camp in north-eastern Nigeria. She was this fragile girl, who did not even have the chance to talk, as her brother was quick to jump in and answer my questions. I could see a certain heaviness in her eyes. Displaced by the Boko Haram, 9-year-old Fatima and her family had been living in makeshift huts in Maiduguri for 18 months. They struggled for their most basic needs, crawling into windowless huts to sleep at night. It was so hot outside that I could not breathe well as I walked through the camp area. Men, women, and children sat outside with blank gazes in their eyes, staring into the horizon, waiting for a miracle." - Newsha Tavakolian
Photograph by Newsha Tavakolian

Emma Watson's Favorite National Geographic Photographs

For International Women’s Day, the award-winning actress guest highlights photographs by outstanding women.

ByDominique Hildebrand
March 7, 2018
2 min read

Emma Watson is best known for playing smart, charming women in films, from Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series to Belle in Disney’s live action remake of The Beauty and the Beast. The award-winning actress is also a powerful activist for gender equality on and off the silver screen.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Watson took over National Geographic’s Instagram account, selecting images that showcase the outstanding photographic contributions of eight women photographers.

The highlighted posts address a variety of global issues, including the recently rescinded ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, the effects of displacement on women and girls running from Boko Haram in Nigeria, and unequal pay for women day laborers in the brick industry in India.

“Women photographers are often under-represented and under-celebrated,” Watson says, “I am thrilled to mark this day by profiling the talented female story-tellers and image-makers that are working hard to build empathy across borders.”

"'I asked my father for a BMW, but he gifted me a horse instead' jokes Ekleel, a young Saudi and aspiring horseback rider, musician and sports enthusiast. There are many restrictions that are specific to women in Saudi Arabia, such as the legal male guardianship and the longstanding ban on women driving, but I realize that it's only made us persevere in the fight for equal rights. Women's Day, in my experience, has been about celebrating the many women that have been tenacious fighters, in hopes for our daughters to understand the difference between privilege and basic human rights." - Tasneem Al Sultan
Photograph by Tasneem Al Sultan

Emma Watson is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and actress. She is the first guest editor to partner with the National Geographic on Instagram. You can see her posts throughout the day on @NatGeo.