BBC on 26 October released its list of 100 inspiring women of 2014. It is a proud moment for all the Pakistani that list includes five Pakistani women who have contributed in different fields and have make their mark in the BBC list. The list also have a large number of inspiring Muslim women from different countries which is a sign of Muslim women empowerment.
Nigar Nazar
Nigar Nagar is the creator of Pakistani cartoon character “Gogi”. It is a female character depicting a strong ambitious Pakistani girl dressed in completely Pakistani avatar. Gogi was started some 4 decades ago. Since then Nigar’s work has been appeared on television, magazines and newspapers. Gogi is the brain child of jovial and full of life Pakistani cartoonist Nigar who speaks her mind and heart through Gogi. Pakistan government has honored this great woman by giving her Mohatarma Fatima Jinnah Award and she has also received booruker prize by UNESCO in 2006 for her work in orphanage in Kyrgystan.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is that one name that has made every Pakistani women proud. She is the voice of violence against women. Sharmeen is a Pakistani filmmaker who is lauded as first Oscar winner of Pakistan for her documentary “Saving Faces”. Saving Faces has earned her new identity that is the voice of Pakistani women. The lady with great courage was also awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz by Pakistani government and has also bagged two Emmy Awards.
Sarah Jehaan Khan
Sarah Jehaan Khan, a Pakistani Briton, is a Human Right activist, especially devoted to women rights and a filmmaker. She has been working with Muslim groups for more than 18 years. She was the elected president of Muslim Women Youth organization in UK. She is also the director of a gender-equality movement called Inspire.
Saadia Zahidi
Saadia Zahidi is a senior director and gender parity at the World Economic Forum. She is a founder and co-founder of Global Gender Gap reports, Corporate Gender Gap reports and Human Capital Report. She is specifically responsible for all the engagements of World Economic Forum with Pakistan. She is a Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.
Sana Saleem
Sana Saleem is a blogger at Dawn and Guardians. She is the director of Bolo Bhi a non-profit group that encourages for freedom of speech. She is an internet and human right activist that speaks for minorities too. She is also a co-founder of Stories Beyond Borders, which is a crowd-sourced storytelling platform of connecting personal stories for support and policy change.
