Five Pakistanis listed in BBC'S 100 Women

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Sana Saleem, Sarah Khan, Nigar Nazar and Saadia Zahidi have made it to the list


Web Desk October 28, 2014

Conquering the world with their documentaries, campaigns and cartoons, five Pakistani women have made it to BBC’s 100 Women list.

Among BBC’s 100 women are documentary film-maker and Oscar award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Internet rights activist Sana Saleem, filmmaker and campaigner Sarah Khan, cartoonist Nigar Nazar and Saadia Zahidi.

Nigar Nazar



PHOTO: CARTOONNEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

The first Pakistani female cartoonist, Nigar Nazar is Gogi Studios’ mastermind and lead cartoonist. A subtle, bilingual (available in English and Urdu) commentary on local gender issues, these comics are an important part of an emotive venture. From raising awareness to childhood development to a life of poverty to education and environmental degradation, Gogi covers a gamut of our society’s positives and pitfalls.

Sana Saleem



PHOTO: TWITTER

Internet rights activist, Sana Saleem is the director of the Bolo Bhi non-profit group that advocates free speech.

She is also the co-founder of Stories Beyond Borders, a crowd-sourced storytelling platform connecting personal stories for advocacy and policy change.

Sarah Jehaan Khan



PHOTO: SAMAR MINALLAH

Sarah Jehaan Khan is a 16-year-old film-maker and an environmental campaigner who uses film to raise awareness about solutions to issues affecting women and girls.

She has been advocating for environmental friendly solutions on national and international platforms and Pakistan's print and electronic media have featured her as a young achiever.

Her film Harvesting Hope won second prize at a film festival held in Harvard University at the 'Girl's Impact the World Film Festival'. The film is about the health complications women cotton pickers face due to excessive use of chemical pesticides, and the importance of organic farming.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy



PHOTO: REUTERS

Lauded as Pakistan’s first Oscar winner, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz for her documentary Saving Face.

Empowering women and bringing their plight to the forefront through her documentaries, Obaid-Chinoy won as Academy Award winning film for her short documentary titled Humaira: The Dream Catcher.

Two-time Emmy winner, the film-maker received two Emmy Awards for the Best Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary and Long Form categories in 2013 and also the accolade in the Current Affairs category for her documentary Children of the Taliban in 2010.

Saadia Zahidi



PHOTO: TWITTER

Saadia Zahidi is a senior director at the World Economic Forum. Zahidi is also the founder and author of Global Gender Gap & Human Capital Reports. She has been working with businesses and governments to change gender gaps.

Correction: An earlier version of the story carried the wrong picture of one of the women on the list, Sarah Khan. The error has been fixed and is regretted. 

COMMENTS (11)

KS | 9 years ago | Reply Guys someone who has a british nationally is technically not Pakistani. You need to be a citizen of Pakistan to be called a Pakistani.
Tehmina Kazi | 9 years ago | Reply I am glad you fixed the Sarah Khan error, but you also forgot to include myself; I am a British woman of Pakistani origin who is on the list. Thank you.
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