Women's Action Forum (WAF) is a

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

organization in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

History

Women's Action Forum (WAF) was established in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in September, 1981Women empowerment: The spring of hope
Dawn (newspaper), Published 14 February 2016, Retrieved 21 March 2019 by a group of 15 women named Farida Sher, Samina Rehman,

Najma Sadeque Najma Sadeque (1943 – 8 January 2015) from Pakistan was a leading woman journalist, author, human rights activist, particularly of women's rights, an artist, an environmentalist, and a painter. She also did research on socioeconomic issues and a ...

(1943- 2015) (Founder of

Shirkat Gah Shirkat Gah women's resource centre, is a women's rights organization in Pakistan which focuses on research, publications and advocacy on women's issues. History Shirkat Gah was established in 1975 by Najma Sadeque (journalist, human rights activ ...

), Rukhsana Rashid,

Ghazala Rahman Rafiq Ghazala Rahman Rafiq ( ur, غزالہ رحمان رفیق) is an educationist, and social reformer from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. She is daughter of the eminent Hassanally A. Rahman. She was one of the founder members of Women's Action Forum in ...

Farida Shaheed Farida Shaheed is a Pakistani sociologist and feminist human rights activist. In 2012, she was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. She heads the Shirkat Gah women's resource centre in Pakistan, and is k ...

(head of NGO named Shirkat Gah), Fareeha Zafar, Aban Marker Kabraji,

Zohra Yusuf Zohra Yusuf (born 2 May 1950) is an advertising professional, an activist and a journalist who is lauded for her work in women's rights, human rights and media. She is the former Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). ...

(member Shirkat Gah),

Nighat Said Khan Nighat Said Khan ( ur, ) is a Pakistani feminist activist, researcher and author. She is the director and founder of the Applied Socio-Economic Research (ASR) Resource Centre and a founding member of the Women's Action Forum. Early life Khan sp ...

(founder of Applied Socio-Economic Resource Center-ASR), Humaira Rehman, Sultanat Bokhari,

Khawar Mumtaz Khawar Mumtaz (born 29 June 1945) is a Pakistani women's rights activist, feminist author and university professor. She is the Former Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) who served for three consecutive terms from ...

Hilda Saeed Hilda Saeed (born 1936) is a Pakistani activist and freelance journalist. She is chair of Shirkat Gah (Women's Resource Center) and a founding member of the Women's Action Forum (WAF) in Pakistan and of the Pakistan Reproductive Health Network. ...

(member Shirkat Gah), Lala Rukh (1948 – 2017),

Nigar Ahmed Nigar Ahmed (16 February 1945 – 24 February 2017) was a Pakistani women’s rights activist who founded the Women’s Action Forum and Aurat Foundation. She died aged 72. Early life and education Ahmed was born in Lahore in 1945, to Riazuddin ...

(1945 – 2017) and Nasreen Azhar, some of whom were associated with

Lahore Grammar School Lahore Grammar School (LGS) is a group of private education institutions based in the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, with branches spread throughout the country. The system was established in 1979 at its 55 Main Gulberg campus. Today, LG ...

National College of Arts The National College of Arts (colloquially known as NCA) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Overview National College of Arts - A Federal Chartered Institute is the oldest art school in Pakistan and the second oldest i ...

and NGOs like Simorgh, Society for Advancement of Education (SAHE) and

Aurat Foundation Aurat Foundation, founded in 1986, is a women's rights organization based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Its co-founders were Nigar Ahmed and Shahla Zia. Aurat Foundation lobbies and advocates for women. It also holds demonstrations and public awareness ...

. Other organisations which endorsed the charter of WAF included Democratic Women's Association,

Tehrik-e-Niswan Tehrik-e-Niswan ( ur, ) (The Women’s Movement) is a women's organization in Pakistan. Tehrik-e-Niswan was formed in 1979 in Karachi, Sindh by Sheema Kermani. Tehrik-e-Niswan was founded in 1979 to use the performing arts as a medium for giving ...

, Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association,

All Pakistan Women's Association The All Pakistan Women's Association, or APWA, ( ur, آل پاکستان ویمنز ایسوسی ایشن) as it is commonly known, is a voluntary, non-profit and non-political Pakistani organisation whose fundamental aim is the promotion of mo ...

and later on

Sindhiani Tahreek Sindhiani Tahreek ( sd, سنڌياڻي تحريڪ, "Sindhi women's movement") (also known as The Sindhiyani Tehreek) is a women-led political organization formed by rural women in Sindh, the southern province of Pakistan. History Sindhiyani Teh ...

. The WAF was formed to respond to the implementation of the

Hudood Ordinance The Hudood Ordinances (Urdu ; also Romanized Hadood, Hadud, Hudud; singular form is ''Hadh'' or ''hadd'') are laws in Pakistan that were enacted in 1979 as part of then military ruler Zia-ul-Haq's "Islamisation" process. It replaced parts of the ...

penal code and to strengthen women's position in society generally. Women from civil society organizations in Karachi became the founding members of the WAF which has later been joined by chapters from Lahore (Punjab) and Islamabad (Capital of Pakistan) soon within a period of one year. In

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

the group agreed on collective leadership and formulated policy statements and engaged in political action to safeguard women's legal position.

Famous Members

Nigar Ahmed (1945 – 2017) started the Islamabad and Lahore chapters in 1982.

Amar Sindhu Salma Laghari, better known as Amar Sindhu ( ur, امر سندھو, sd, امر سنڌو) (born 28 August 1968) is a Pakistani author, poet, activist and academic. Early life and education Sindhu's real name is Salma Laghari. She was born to Hu ...

along with

Arfana Mallah Arfana Mallah ( ur, عرفانہ ملاح) is a Pakistani Human rights activist, leader of the Women's Action Forum and a professor of Chemistry at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan. Education Arfana BegumMallah received a maste ...

started chapter of Women's Action Forum (WAF) in

in 2008. Since then they are actively working with WAF. Afiya Shehrbano Zia, famous feminist researcher is an active member of WAF, from Karachi.

External links

‘My years with WAF’ – Zohra Yusuf on the Pakistani women’s movement

Women’s Action Forum

Pakistan: A Country Study

The Citizens Archive of Pakistan

Women’s Action Forum

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Action Forum Women's organisations based in Pakistan Organizations established in 1981

History

Famous Members

External links

See also

References