Believe in yourself, because if you can dream it, you can do it

• Mariam Madiha Aftab joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1994.
  Before coming to Sofia, she served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Pakistan in Berlin.
  Her other postings include Counsellor at the Pakistan Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva and at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing, and  Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN in New York.
  At the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, she worked as Director General (Africa), Director General (Americas), Director (USA), Director (Kashmir) and Deputy Director (UN).
  She holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Sussex (UK).
  She is married and has two children.

THE POWER OF WOMEN IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The Power of Women in Diplomacy

            I consider it a unique privilege to represent my country as a diplomat and an ambassador. Pakistan has a longstanding tradition of women diplomats. Begum Ra’ana Liaqat Ali was Pakistan’s first woman envoy in the early years after independence. Many women followed in her footsteps and joined the Foreign Service to become Ambassadors and High Commissioners. We have had a woman diplomat as Foreign Secretary and as you are aware, our current Minister of State for Foreign Affairs is a woman, Hina Rabbani Khar. We have a relatively small Foreign Service but today we have more than 120 women diplomats serving both at the Headquarters and Pakistan Missions abroad, at various levels including Head of Mission. I am proud to be a part of this wonderful, dynamic group.

            I think cultural dialogue is all the more important in diplomacy in the 21st century. We have so many channels of communication today including social media yet we see intolerance and xenophobia growing all over the world. It is therefore vital that the message of our common humanity is reinforced and in order to do that we have to promote constructive dialogue between people belonging to different cultures, religions, and ethnicities. Women diplomats can play a key role in promoting and facilitating such dialogue processes.

The Power of Women in Politics

Women have always played an extremely important role in Pakistani politics from the very beginning. Mother of the Nation, Fatima Ali Jinnah, the sister of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was among the leading stateswoman of her age, who also played a vital role in our national struggle for independence. Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto, became the first women Prime Minister of the Muslim world. We have had a woman as Speaker of the National Assembly and women members of Cabinet, including as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Pakistani women are also active in parliament as lawmakers. There are 20 % reserved seats for women in the Parliament and provincial assemblies. The Women Parliamentary Caucus, which  is a cross-party forum, is on of the most active groups in parliament and has contributed tremendously to advancing women rights, including through progressive legislations, at all levels, national and provincial.

Likewise, ten percent seats are reserved in Government employment for women. Women in Pakistan continue to serve in the highest positions in decision-making.

The Power of Women in business

Women entrepreneurship in Pakistan has traditionally been limited to certain sectors only. However, in the last two decades there has been a significant shift towards greater involvement of women entrepreneurs and businesspersons in the formal economy. Today, women are running flourishing businesses as entrepreneurs and leading corporations in decision-making roles.

The Power of Women in Science

It is true that like the rest of the world, STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields in Pakistan also are dominated by men and  the number of Pakistani women in 'STEM' is relatively low. However, over time, several Pakistani women have emerged as world class scientists in fields like Physics, Biology and computer sciences including physicists like Nergis Mavalvala who became the first woman Dean of the School of Sciences at MIT and biologists like Asifa Akhtar who is the first international female vice president of the biology and medicine section at Germany's prestigious Max Planck Society. Women scientists like them serve as an inspiration to young women in Pakistan to follow their dreams in all fields including science.

The Power of Women in Sport

Despite some cultural barriers, female athletes have consistently excelled in various sports in Pakistan including cricket, badminton, table tennis, foot- ball, volleyball, and basketball and also more unusual sports like mountaineering! Samina Baig, a 32-year-old high-altitude mountaineer became the first Pakistani to climb Mount Everest, K2, and the Seven Summits.

Believe in yourselves and don’t let anyone hold you back from achieving your dreams!