Sadia Atta Mehmood is a Project Officer for the Youth program of the UNFPA in Pakistan. Ms. Mehmood is passionate about working for the promotion of rights for the children and youth of Pakistan. She is also qualified in the field of Social Work.
Ms. Mehmood has participated in various levels of national and international leadership programs in the field of sexual and reproductive health. She also has an extensive background in designing creative development programs for children and young people. A special leadership program for youth, which she designed, focuses on awareness, spirituality and interfaith harmony in order to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of all young people on an equal basis.
Her interest in interfaith work has led her to conduct research projects on exploring the role of religions such as Islam, Christianity and Hinduism in the shaping of young people’s sexuality. She has also compiled verses from different faiths on peace, tolerance and harmony. Ms. Mehmood has worked for a number of different organizations in project management, training, research, and community development. She is the Honorary Chairperson of the Child Development Organization, an NGO based in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Ms. Mehmood has published numerous articles, journals and research papers on youth issues.
Nahida Mahboob Ellahi is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Ms. Ellahi started her career as an advocate in 1985, where she was enrolled in different courts throughout the country, until starting her current position in 1998. She also was appointed as Standing Counsel for the Federal Government and is also the first and only women lawyer in Pakistan to be appointed as Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan, a position she still holds today.
Ms. Ellahi a regular member of many civil society organizations such as the Human Rights Society of Pakistan, (Rawalpindi/Islamabad Chapter), where she is the General Secretary. She is also the Vice President of the (Punjab) Pakistan Women Lawyers’ Association, and the Founder/Member of the Women Crisis Center in Islamabad.
Ms. Ellahi is a Human Rights activist and has given trainings to judges, police officers and other law enforcement agencies. She has prepared reports on issues concerning women and children, such as the National Commission on the Status of Women. She has trained the Civil Society Organization on discriminatory laws which require amendments and repeal, concerning minorities, women, and children. Ms. Ellahi is a member of the international bar association. She also lectures regularly on the gender reform action plan of the Government.
Ms. Ellahi was recently invited by the USA to attend a workshop held by the State Department in Washington DC, on women and law. She has widely travelled and participated in different workshop, seminars and training program in the UK, South Africa, Canada, Denmark, and Switzerland. She has done research and helped in compiling books on family laws.
Dr. Fawzia Al-Attia is Chair of the Union of Iraqi Sociologists and was Deputy Head of the Department of Social and Research Studies, Arab-UNESCO. She has also served as a member of numerous committees, including the Administrative Committee of the Independent Iraqi Women’s Group, Coordination Committee of the League of Iraqi Women, Iraqi Women Network, Expert Committee in Iraq for Women, Supreme Committee for the Preparation of the Iraqi National Congress 2004.
Dr. Al-Attia is the author of many scholarly books and articles: Culture and Social Changes and the Role of Women in National Development in the Arab Gulf (Center for Arab Studies, Basra University, 1979), Social Stratification (Mosul University Press, 1983), Social Psychology (Baghdad, 1992), The Iraqi Experience in Rural Development (Al Mansoura University, 1989), The Arab Commune Work and National Development (Al Mansoura University, 1990), and Gender and Women’s Rights in Iraq(International Human Rights Law Institute, DePaul University, College of Law, 2006).
Dr. Fawzia Al-Attia was a professor at Baghdad University, where she headed the sociology department from 1973 to 1978 and she received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Montpellier, France; and taught at Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi.
Aisha Rafea is co-leader of the women’s group at The Egyptian Society for Spiritual and Cultural Research (ESSCR). Ms. Rafea is the daughter of the prominent Egyptian spiritual teacher, Master Rafea Muhammad Rafea. She is a devoted writer, researcher and teacher of spirituality. She has a vision that without spiritual awareness, people turn the most precious divine guidance into dogma and stagnant tradition.
Along with her team, Ms. Rafea has designed The True ‘Me’: Focused, Free and Fulfilled, an international program for the development of human character for children which includes both Islamic and interfaith literature. She is also a designer and trainer of a self-help program for adults. The program combines spiritual training techniques and cognitive behavioral therapy tools to help trainees gain consciousness of and connection to their inner divinity, where wholeness resides, in order for people to live their lives with awareness and meaningfulness.
With her brother Ali and sister Aliaa, Ms. Rafea has coauthored the book Beyond Diversities: Reflections on Revelation, and Islam From Adam to Muhammad and Beyond (also published under the name: The Book Of Essential Islam by The Book Foundation). She has written four books and diverse articles in Arabic and has participated in several international interfaith conferences in the US and Europe. Her articles and research papers have been published in international periodicals and books.
Rasheeda Ahmadi works in the Madina Community as an Interpreter and Report Writer for the Help Poor Women Organization. Ms. Ahmadi mostly translates documents from Persian to English and English to Persian. She also edits and creates proposals.
Ms. Ahmadi has participated in various trainings such as “Effective Management,” “Project Proposal Writing,” “Supervision and Monitoring,” “Project Planning,” and “Strengthening the Women’s Movement.” She also has worked as a teacher.
Tasneem Ahmar is the Director of the UKS Research Centre (www.uksresearch.com), a media advocacy and monitoring organization in Islamabad, Pakistan. Ms. Ahmar is also the Executive Producer for Meri Awaz Sunno (Hear my Voice), a rights-based, all female radio programme.
Ms. Ahmar began her career as a desk journalist at The Muslim, an English language daily in Pakistan. She has worked at the Dawn Group of newspapers and has held posts such as Research Associate-Women’s Study Centre, Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan and Assistant Professor, Mass Communication department, Karachi University, Pakistan. A freelance journalist since 1986, Ms. Ahmar’s cover story on violence against women titled “Trial by Fire” was published in an English language monthly The Herald (September 1995) and presented at the 1995 Beijing Conference. She has authored several research papers, and participated in many international and regional seminars, workshops, and conferences on issues around women, development and media. She has edited media studies and media guides on issues ranging from violence against women, HIV and AIDS to gender sensitivity in the media.
Ms. Ahmar holds Masters Degrees in Communication (1989) from the University of Hawaii and Mass Communication (1978) from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. Recipient of the 1998 Mary Morgan Hewett Award of Excellence in Feature Writing, Ms. Ahmar will receive the Leadership in Media Award from Internews-USA in June 2009.
Dr. Hamidah Marican is the Principal Consultant with Dubai Consult Sdn Bhd (a human capital development company) based in Malaysia. Dr. Marican expertise includes Managing Diversity & Inclusion at the workplace, discrimination and harassment, gender equality and cross cultural communication. In the global workplace she is a much sought after resource in reviewing current workplace policies and instituting practices that are bias-free.
Dr. Marican is also an advocate of social justice pertaining to women and children irrespective of religion. In addition to promoting a green, healthy work environment, Hamidah is a strong advocate of fairness pertaining to Islamic Family Law.
Professor Jamilah Ariffin is the President of Asia-Pacific Forum on Families, an international NGO founded in 2002. Professor Ariffin has also taught for over 30 years at four different universities in Malaysia, her most recent position being Professor of Development Studies at the University of Malaysia and Adjunct Professor in Gender Studies until 2008.
Professor Ariffin has contributed significantly in the field of “Women and Development” especially as a consultant for the Government of Malaysia and international governmental organizations. She has published 15 books and over 40 academic research papers, her latest book being Readings on Women and Development in Malaysia – A Sequel (Tracing Four Decades of Change) in 2009.
As wife of the Chief Minister of Johor, Professor Ariffin has successfully initiated twelve social welfare projects in Johor which include skill-training/income-generating projects for more than 600 poor single mothers, 58 day-care centres for mentally handicapped children and the first Centre for Abused Children and Abandoned Babies in Johor. She is also the Advisor to the Social Welfare Council of Johor.
