Pakistan’s Fiza Farhan appointed member of UN’s first-ever panel on women empowerment

Fiza Farhan made Pakistan proud by being elected as a member of the High-Level Panel of the UN Secretary-General; a newly created panel by the United Nations on Women’s Economic Empowerment.

The 28-year-old was previously awarded the honour of being nominated in the under 30’s list by Forbes magazine for Social Entrepreneurs in 2015, making it another first for a Pakistani to achieve this honour.

Currently Fiza is the CEO of Buksh Foundation and director of Buksh Energy in Pakistan.

Her association with the United Nations will connect Fiza with several leaders of the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, UN Women as well as a good number of eminent gender and equality actors. Her role will lead to establish collaborations with global economics experts, academics, trade union leaders, businesses and government representatives. On her appointment, Fiza expressed, “It is indeed an honour for me to represent Pakistan and the women of Pakistan on this prestigious High-Level Panel.”

British Council Commentary:

The Education UK Alumni Awards recently celebrated the achievements of alumni from UK universities who are now living in Pakistan and have gone on to achieve success in their professional careers.  

The awards will be held in 10 countries including Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the USA.

The three winners of the Education UK Alumni Awards 2016 in Pakistan were announced at a ceremony organized by the British Council Pakistan at a ceremony held at the British Deputy High Commission, Karachi, Pakistan.

Jahanzeb Awan won the Professional Achievement Award, Fiza Farhan won the Social Impact Award and Bilal Majeed won the Entrepreneurship Award.

Fiza Farhan, winner of the Social Impact Award, said that her time at Warwick Business School allowed her to ‘fully realize her passion not to settle for any job but instead create new realities that serve a purpose and create holistic impact for all stakeholders.”

She said, “the challenging multicultural environment honed her confidence and developed persistence and courage that made her the young woman leader she is today.”

The Education UK Alumni Awards 2016 in Pakistan received an outstanding number of high quality applications out of which 11 finalists were selected through a competitive process. Pakistan is also among the top ten countries with the highest number of UK graduates. Every year approximately 7000 Pakistanis select the UK as their destination to complete their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The UK remains the preferred overseas higher education destination for Pakistanis, who then take up leadership roles in various industries throughout the world.

British Council in Pakistan offers several development initiatives and learning opportunities for its women, one of these is the Scottish Scholarship scheme. British Council Pakistan will administer the scheme in Pakistan and directly coordinate with the selected scholars and universities.

For details on Scottish scholarships, contact the SIEM Pakistan team.