Farzana Yaqoob: Women Have To Stand For Each Other
Farzana seems to be a unlikely addition to Pakistan’s political corridors. For one, she is young, another that she is a women and to make it all a bit more challenging is that she hails from a village in Pakistan’s traditional north-east. But despite all the odds, Farzana has managed to succeed both in politics and now is making her mark as an activist.
She is the first to admit that politics is far from perfect. “Truth is not a commodity that is appreciated,” adding “this makes politics a fertile ground for politicians who have much more flexible moral standards.”
Farzana seems like the right person to talk politics with. She was the first women in her village and tribe to be directly elected to the state legislator and went on to serve in the state cabinet where she oversaw social welfare and women’s rights for over four years.
However not all women have been able to achieve the same. She admits that it is particularly difficult for women to enter politics, let alone succeed in it. “Women are given supporting positions and tasks,” adding that “their potential is not utilised.”
But she claims that “the societal mindset” is the one for blame for not enough women in positions of power. “Who decides how the woman spends her income?” she asks, noting that “the financial decision-making is still very patriarchal.”
Farzana does place some responsibility on the women who have achieved success. “Women have to stand for each other,” adding that is essential for “women who have achieved success need to step up and facilitate other women.” Its not just the public sector which needs to do more, she claims that “the private sector also needs to play its part,” pointing at the board quotas for women in some Scandinavian countries as an example.
Farzana has come a long way from her first election campaign. She served as the 2016 Eisenhower Fellow where she examined conflict resolution and climate change mitigation strategies for South Asia. And recently she has been named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the first women from her home state of Kashmir to be honoured.
She has plenty of useful advise for young people on how to achieve their goals. “We don’t need to wait for someone else to fix our problems,” adding that “we can actually take charge and be the solution ourselves.” But she recognises that the government needs to do more too. She notes that “we are experiencing a youth bulge,” but despite that there is a “a lack of understanding (of) the benefits and risks attached to disengagement of youth.”
Farzana isn’t stepping down. Though out of government now, she is the founder of the Asia Institute of Public Policy, an Islamabad based think tank which promotes diplomacy between Asian countries. It is an undoubtedly an uphill task but Farzana is defiantly up for it. She admits that “life is not easy and hurdles are part of this existence,” but, she adds that, “be persevere and remain positive. Success will follow.”
millennial.pk is a platform to young Pakistanis to be a productive voice in the social, policy and political debates in the country. We would love you to be part of it! Email me at wani@cyap.org.pk for any questions, feedback or constructive criticism.
