Meet our today’s inspiring personality, Saliha Nawaz, from the beautiful Sherqilla Valley in Punial, located within the Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Saliha currently holds the position of Project Officer at the United Nations Agency, ILO (International Labour Organisation), where her responsibilities include policy development, gender development, and social dialogue. In addition, she serves as the provincial coordinator for ILO in Balochistan province.
My mother is my inspiration, who has always pushed me to achieve the best in life and my father encouraged me to walk on the toughest paths hardly walked by many people.
Saliha Nawaz
She completed her primary and secondary schooling from Aga Khan Higher Secondary School Sherqillah. During this crucial stage of her life, Saliha’s parents and maternal grandparents (Nana and Nani) instilled essential life values in her, including integrity, honesty, patience, hard work, compassion, and the confidence to pursue her dreams. According to Saliha, her mother has been her inspiration, continuously pushing her to achieve best in life, while her father encourages her to walk toughest challenging paths that few dare to tread.
During the same years, Saliha embarked on a journey to polish her leadership skills, under the invaluable guidance and mentorship of many exceptional teachers at Aga Khan Higher Secondary School Sherqillah. Their continued support and encouragement contributed significantly to the enhancement of her critical thinking, leadership, creative, and communication skills. Teachers such as Sir Jahangir Khan, Abdul Karim, Iqbal Dad, Nargis Jamal, Shahbidad, Noor Akbar, Saghir Hussain, Sherjan, and many others played pivotal role in her holistic development. Engaging in thoughtful discussions with her teachers and receiving career guidance played a vital role in helping her identify her core strengths and refining them.
I aim to create a sustainable impact of my work and want to ensure that in coordination with all the stakeholders through the means of social dialogue we achieve inclusive world of work in Pakistan.
Saliha Nawaz
In 2013, Saliha moved to Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Hunza, for her intermediate education. During her time there, she was taught by exceptional teachers who inspired her to explore unconventional paths in order to achieve her life goals. Despite having Biological Sciences as her major during her high school years, she never felt convinced to pursue a career in medicine. Unlike her peers, she did not even consider applying for programs like MBBS or BSCN because she was knew she would not be happy pursuing a career in medicine.
Immediately following the completion of her 12th-grade final exams in June 2015, Saliha started her first internship at WWF Gilgit as a project coordinator in their Spellathon program. This internship provided her with a firsthand exposure to a genuine professional atmosphere, from revising reports to conducting sessions at both private and public schools across Gilgit-Baltistan. Each task she undertook served as a fresh and new learning opportunity. It was during this period that she came to the realization that her skill-set and abilities were well-suited for a career in the development sector.
Between June and September 2015, she worked as an intern at WWF while simultaneously applying to universities in Rawalpindi-Islamabad. She received acceptance offers from a couple of universities in different departments. However, she chose to pursue her Bachelors in English Literature and Linguistics.
On October 1, 2015, she got admission at Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi. To her surprise, many acquaintances questioned her choice of studying English. According to them, the path to fame and wealth was exclusively through two professions: medicine and engineering. Nonetheless, she remained undeterred by such statements and steadfastly continued her educational journey.
In 2018, Saliha received a fully-funded Fulbright scholarship to study a semester in the United States. For six months, she not only relished her academic experience in the U.S. but availed the opportunity to explore 18 of its states. Engaging in a wide range of co-curricular activities at Shepherd University in West Virginia, she delved into fascinating subjects like music and Appalachian culture, drawing valuable lessons from each encounter. At the end of the semester, she received Shepherd University’s prestigious Dean’s Letter and was named in Dean’s List scoring highest GPA of 3.75/4 and demonstrating exceptional performance in co-curricular engagements.
Upon her return to Pakistan after six-month, she became part of the Pakistan-US Alumni Network co-managed by the United States Embassy in Pakistan. It was through this platform that she applied for an internship at the United Nations agency ILO Head Office in Islamabad in July 2019. Among a pool of applicants, she secured a three-month internship, marking the beginning of her official professional journey. Following the completion of her internship, she received her initial consultancy opportunity at ILO, followed by two more consultancy offers.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread lockdowns and people staying at home, Saliha started applying for Master’s scholarships abroad. Impressively, she was selected for three of these scholarships. After successfully passing the tests and interviews, she received an offer letter for the STEP Program at The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) in London. She also received an admission letter from the University of Birmingham in the UK and also secured admission to the University of Glasgow in Scotland.Since she had to choose between consultancy offers from ILO UN and above-mentioned scholarships, she thrice chose ILO over any other offer.
In 2022, Saliha joined UNICEF implementing partner in polio program. After six months in this role, she once again received consultancy offers from the ILO. Throughout these months, she had a strong desire to pursue further studies, but her professional commitments made it challenging for her to go abroad for a Master’s degree. Consequently, she initiated her Master’s in Public Administration from the Virtual University of Pakistan in 2021.
While talking to Ibex Times, Saliha shared she has successfully completed her degree last week along with fulfilling her professional duties, which, in her view, represented one of the most challenging endeavors she has ever undertaken.
I am very proud to be the Youngest Employee at the NO-A grade (National Professional Officer) in the ILO Pakistan and to be the only individual from Gilgit-Baltistan working in the ILO currently.
Saliha Nawaz
In November 2022, after undergoing a rigorous selection process conducted by the ILO, Saliha emerged successful from a pool of approximately 5000 applicants nationwide and achieved position of NOA as a Project Officer for Policy Development. Remarkably, she holds the distinction of being the youngest employee at the NO-A grade (National Professional Officer) in ILO Pakistan and the person from Gilgit-Baltistan working in the organization currently. Presently, Saliha is serving as the representative of ILO Pakistan at an international training event titled “Promoting Gender Equality through Social Dialogue” hosted at the International Training Center of ILO in Italy.
While talking to Ibex Time, Saliha said, “Focused on promoting gender equality in Pakistan through our project, my objective is to establish a lasting influence through my efforts. I am committed to fostering an inclusive work environment in Pakistan, in coordination with all stakeholders through constructive social dialogue.”
