WINNER: Salima Begum, UCL Institute of Education
Salima has been working for Aga Khan University-Professional Development Centre North, as a teacher educator, Karakoram International University as an Assistant Professor and College of Education for Women as an instructor.
She says that the Programme structure and content was very relevant to her existing experience and offered her an opportunity to learn more about education systems of different countries and their commitment for promoting education.
In recognition of her contribution in improving quality of teaching/learning, engaging communities in education, developing strong home-school partnerships, implementing environmental projects, promoting girls’ education and introducing entrepreneurship concepts in community to empower women, she qualified as a finalist for the Global Teachers Prize 2017 and was awarded a Gold Medal and meritorious certificates.
Gouhar Pirzada, London Metropolitan University
Gouhar Pirzada is Chairperson of STEP Skills Development Foundation and CEO of STEP Institute of Art, Design Management. He is also a national TVET trainer and a consultant with GIZ and Government of Pakistan, supporting the implementation of TVET reformation.
Gouhar believes that London Metropolitan University provided him with competencies and skills related to stakeholder engagement, creative entrepreneurship and developing sustainable collaborations with international organisations while dealing with and managing diversity and social inclusion.
Gouhar is now training institution heads at a national level to upgrade Pakistan’s TVET sector in light of UNESCO’s TVET strategy. He also writes for TVET Asia.
Faran Mehmood, University of Cambridge
Faran Mahmood is an expert on SDGs with a full spectrum of advisory, policy, fund-raising and programme management experience on his palette in government, international and local development sectors. As USAID’s MAVC programme fellow, he spearheaded the tech4gov movement to bring accountability in million-dollar megaprojects.
At Cambridge, Faran learned to apply a systems approach to complex dynamic problems and applied a new gamification technique for policy experiments during a fellowship – which landed him with a finalist spot at the UK Trade and Investment’s annual festival.
Currently, he is advising the Government of Pakistan on SDG policy matters and has received numerous commendation letters/medals for his work.
Muhammad Atif, University of East Anglia (UEA)
Muhammad Atif Sheikh has been an activist for the rights of persons with disabilities for more than 13 years. He is the President of the Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP), a self- help organization for persons with disabilities. Founded in 1997, STEP under the leadership of Mr. Sheikh has become a strong voice for citizens with disabilities in Pakistan.
In 2002, he represented Pakistan in the World Assembly of Disabled Peoples’ International and the Osaka Forum on Disability and Development. In the following years, he established affiliations with global partners and conducted training and capacity building with prominent persons with disabilities. He is the founder of a number of entities led by persons with disabilities at national and regional levels, including the Assistive Technology Center in Pakistan and the South Asian Disability Forum.
He has also served as the first Chairperson of the South Asian Disability Forum and regularly shares information and insights with activist persons with disabilities, within South Asia and in other ESCAP subregions through the online disability information resource site (APCD Empowerment Café). Atif Sheikh has also presented technical papers on different aspects of disability and development at more than 30 policy meetings and seminars across the world.