Fiza Farhan Elected As A Member of UN Panel on Women Empowerment

Fiza Farhan, a Pakistani social entrepreneur, has been named amongst the United Nation’s panel for the development and empowerment of women. She was elected as a member of the first ever High-Level Panel of the UN Secretary General on Women’s Economic Empowermenty.

Fiza is the CEO of Buksh Foundation and Director of Buksh Energy. She was also featured in the prestigious list of ’30 under 30′ Social Entrepreneurs of 2015, compiled by the Forbes Magazine.

As a member of the UN Body, Fiza will meet with leaders of the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), UN Women and several other prominent gender equality organisations. She will also be in contact with economics and finance experts, global academics, trade union leaders, business leaders and government representatives from across the globe.

While speaking about her appointment in the UN Panel for Women, Fiza said “It is indeed an honor for me to represent Pakistan and the women of Pakistan on this prestigious high-level panel.” She added that, “It is time that we engage global leadership and galvanize political will to scale actions with measurable impact towards women’s economic empowerment.”

UN Women’s Country Representative in Pakistan, Jamshed Kazi, gave his views on the matter by saying “While Fiza will be providing advice as a global thought leader, we also look forward to her continued contribution in championing women’s economic empowerment right here in Pakistan in alignment with the UN Women’s mandate.”

The UN panel has only one purpose, to put forth recommendations which can be implemented in 2030’s Agenda for Sustainable Development. The agenda is aimed at improving the financial and economic outcomes for women and promoting women leadership to drive a sustainable economic growth.

A few of the global aims of the panel are to protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrants, with particular focus on women migrants and those in precarious employment. The panel will send recommendations to enable governments, UN system’s leadership and private sector stakeholders on taking important decisions related to Sustainable Development Objectives and women empowerment.