It’s time that we should stop limiting a girl’s dream and make her stay confined in her surroundings.....
women achievers
It takes confidence and real guts to aim higher than women are often expected to do, to go beyond social, cultural, educational and self-limiting beliefs to achieve the best for themselves. Girls, in particular, are often quashed at an early age by an expectation of behaviours and self-restrain that are sometimes old fashioned, sexist and potentially life limiting.
It’s time that we should stop limiting a girl’s dream and make her stay confined in her surroundings. It’s time to elevate women for what they are capable of and let them push their boundaries. The recently held Women Leaders Award 2020 at the Governor House Karachi was a perfect attempt to celebrate women who didn’t confine to their surroundings and came out brave and successful.
The inaugural edition of the Women Leaders Award honoured and celebrated 11 iconic women from Pakistan and abroad for their contributions and achievement in the fields of diplomacy, finance, social work, healthcare, adventure sports, human rights, journalism and women’s rights. The awards ceremony was graced by President Dr Arif Alvi, the US Ambassador to Pakistan HE Paul W Jones, honourable consul generals, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, dignitaries and celebrities of the entertainment industry.
The event started with a thank you note by Sultana Siddiqui to the President and honourable guests for gracing the special evening. While addressing the attendees, Ms Siddiqui said, “The reason for this event is that we recognise the contributions made by women in our society and the world over, celebrate their stories, share the lessons they learned after crossing each milestone, and most importantly inspire the younger generation to go beyond these milestones.”
Following Sultana Siddiqui, the US Ambassador to Pakistan Paul W Jones while addressing the attendees said, “United States is committed to giving equal opportunities to both men and women. Empowered women play a vital role in a country’s social and economic development.”
Chief Guest of the event, President Dr Arif Alvi while addressing the attendees shared, “Quaid-e-Azam once said that nations cannot progress without women working side by side with the men. From one fourth quota system of women in medical and engineering colleges back in the ‘80s to almost 80 per cent representation of women in these institutions today, our nation has come a long way but only 10 per cent of these women make it to the workplace. This needs to be changed. We have witnessed that when given the opportunity women work twice as hard as men.”
Hosted by Mira Sethi, the awards ceremony began with the first award being presented to mountaineer Samina Baig, Pakistan’s first female mountaineer in recognition of her tremendous achievements in adventure sports and for her efforts towards gender equality, climate change and women empowerment, presented by Hina Bayat. The second award of the evening was given to Jalila Haider, the first female attorney of Hazara community by Sania Saeed in recognition of her selfless devotion to women and children’s rights and her outstanding work with local communities to provide opportunities to vulnerable women and children. This was followed by a special obituary package, paying tribute to all the iconic women of the past who have made a mark with their resilience and tremendous success, and are a source of inspiration for women and men around the world. Barrister Khadija Siddiqi received her award from Mahira Khan in recognition of her bravery and determination to stand tall against a powerful and corrupt opposition and unsupportive society. The next recipient was Narges Abyar, the acclaimed Iranian film director who received her award from Madiha Saeed and Zeba Bakhtiar in recognition of her contributions for sensitively highlighting the plight of women and children caused by society, war and radicalism in her films and also for defying the war genre’s conventions by featuring female characters that rejected the gender norms expected of them. The first segment of the awards was followed by a special performance of singing sensation Sajjad Ali and Zaw Ali who enthralled the audiences with their soulful voices.
The second segment of the awards, hosted by Sanam Saeed commenced with Dr Fouzia Saeed receiving her award from the Italian Consul General Anna Ruffino and Javed Sheikh in recognition of her exemplary services for promotion of Pakistani culture, women’s issues, courageous stand against sexual harassment and commitment to women’s advancement. Ace actor Bushra Ansari was next to receive her award from Asima Haq and Bunto Kazmi in recognition of her years of contributions to television and cinema. The next award was given to Mary Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland and a forceful advocate for gender equality, women’s participation in peace-building and human dignity. The next award was presented to Dr Seemin Jamali by Duraid Qureshi in recognition of her outstanding services in the public sector and medical profession which was followed by Hania Amir’s engaging performance.
The last segment of the ceremony hosted by Mira Sethi and Sanam Saeed had a few awards given to other winners which included Omar Aftab, Zubeida Mustafa, Dr Shamshad Akhtar and Maleeha Lodhi for her brilliant diplomatic career and contributions in giving Pakistan a positive profile at the UN as Pakistan’s former Ambassador and Permanent Representative. The show was concluded with a special performance by Hadiqa Kiyani.
The ceremony aimed at recognising and honouring the contributions and achievements of iconic women from Pakistan and around the world who are change makers in their respective fields and a symbol and source of hope, courage, determination and inspiration for women across the globe. These iconic women are mentors and role models for girls who aspire to be achievers. In the words of Melinda Gates, “Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them are the strongest force we have to change the world”.
