MahiraMiyanji

Being a girl belonging to a lower-middle income class, i never thought of going so far to do something for my community, particularly for the girls of my area, who are deprived of their fundamental human rights. I established WIN (Woman Is A Nation) Welfare Organization, to empower young girls through free Education & organize them in my hometown Lyari, which is considered as the most violent area of metropolitian city. The thematic focus of our work incldues democracy, human rights, peace, education, and health and so far we have been able to make an impact in the lives of more then 3,000 girls and their families through education and vocational training and promoting entreprenuership. We also provide safe space to the young girls for dialogue at our first Girls Café and by bringing them in the national mainstream development agenda.

I am also part of many other civil society networks and coalitions such as I Am Karachi and Chanan Development Association (CDA)'s youth-led civil society organizations network, Right to Play and Youth Café. I have also received number of national awards and earned great support from my own community for the work that we do for young girls. The idea of WIN is based on the principles of social change for sustainable development. We empower the marginalized, and give them not only the education which helps them to make informed choices but also boost their self-esteem and leadership by equipping them with life skills such as critical thinking and decision-making. We particularly organize dialogues and awareness sessions at WIN every week which enables young girls of my area to get knowledge about their fundamental rights guaranteed in constitution of Pakistan and how they can be exercised. We also empower these young girls to play pro-active role in the national development by participating in decision-making processes, particularly in the affiars of local governemnt. We promote dialogues between young girls and their elected representatives to bridge the gap. I am very proud of having more then 125 girls at WIN every day, despite the fact that girls education is not given priority, and even receiving life threats for running this organizations for the empowerment of girls in Lyari. I believe it is right of every girl to learn and fulfill her dreams, and i am proud to have support from within community for my cause. I wanted to join the Youth Lead to expand my network with young leaders of non-profit sector in the region and to further build on that relationship to come up with joint avenues of collaboration and support. Finally, i wanted to join the Youth Lead because i wanted to challenge the perception of those who think that young girls in Pakistan can't do much for themselves and their communities, i wanted to show them that living in challenging situations, with handful resources, can't be a limitation for anyone.