| SPEAKERS |
 | Naheed Fareed, Member of Parliament (House of representatives), Afghanistan and Member of the International Relations Committee
Ms. Naheed Fareed was elected to the Afghanistan Parliament in 2010 at the age of 27, becoming one of the youngest elected members in the nation’s history. Farid has worked tirelessly to engage Afghan youth and women in the nation’s political process. Prior to running for Parliament, she was involved in the rebuilding of her nation. She has founded and led various NGOs assisting women, children and engaging in rural community development amongst others. |
| She has advocated for the reduction of gender-based violence and human rights violations against women, and for expanded access to education and employment for women. |
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| | Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), BJP National Spokesperson and Supreme Court lawyer
Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi is an Indian Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from New Delhi constituency. She is the national spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a Supreme Court of India lawyer. Lekhi has worked on several important cases like banning of lotteries in Delhi, Shantimukund rape case, and special prosecutor for Jyoti Dhawan's case. |
| Known for her vocal views and activist work on gender issues, Lekhi has been a member of the National Commission for Women’s Special Committee and Chairperson of the Special Task Force on Women's Empowerment. She has also been member of the drafting committee of "Women's Reservation Bill" & "Problem of Sexual Harassment at Workplace”. |
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| | Chhaya Sharma (Pant), Politician and Member of Parliament, Nepal, Coordinator for the sub-committee on gender issues in Industry and Trade, Founder Chairperson of the Nepal College of Travel and Tourism Management and Woman entrepreneur.
Ms. Chhaya Sharma (Pant) is a Politician and Member of Parliament, Nepal. She is also Coordinator for the sub-committee on gender issues in Industry and Trade. She is a women entrepreneur and Founder Chairperson of the Nepal College of Travel and Tourism Management. |
| Other portfolios include: Promoter- SAARC Chamber Crafts Village (retail outlet for handicrafts from the SAARC region); Board Member ICPD-Institute for Conflict Management, Peace and Development; Immediate Past President/ life member of FWEAN- Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal;Founder-Promoter – KaasthaMandap Vidyalaya (School) |
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| | Maiza Hameed, Member of Parliament, Pakistan, Minister of Culture and Youth affairs and Member of Pakistan Muslim League
Ms. Maiza Hameed is a Pakistani politician, and parliamentarian. She was elected a member of national assembly on reserved seats for women from Punjab in Pakistani general election, 2013. She is affiliated with Pakistan Muslim League (N). She is also president of PML (N) Youth Wing in Rahim Yar Khan. Dedicated to women empowerment, Maiza Hameed is continuously involved in stirring women leadership. |
| Hailing from Rahim Yar Khan, southern Punjab, Maiza Hameed is among the first of those young parliamentarians who took stand against dictatorship in her maiden tenure with Pakistan Muslim League (N) and in the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 2008. Ms Maiza is also one of the leading parliamentarians who supported the formulation and ultimately adaptation of the Punjab Youth Policy, which is the first ever provincial youth policy in the history of Pakistan and has given the PML (N) Government a massive leverage to win over youth through its policies and actions in the Punjab. |
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| | Chandrani Bandara, Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka, Member of United National Party (UNP), Minister of Women and Child Affairs.
Ms. Chandrani Bandara is a politician and parliamentarian. She is currently Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Sri Lanka. A member of parliament since 2000, Minister Chandrani Bandara has been advocating for the implementation of long term programmes to eliminate child rapes, abuses and other crimes. It is during the tenure of Minister Bandara that the Sri Lankan government brought in the amendment to the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance aimed at increasing women’s participation at local government level.
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| CHAIR |
| | Satinder K Lambah, Chairman, Ananta Aspen Centre and Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India
Ambassador Satinder K Lambah was the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India from 2005-14 with the rank of Minister of State from 2010 onwards. He was the Co-Chairman of the Task Force on National Security 2011 – 2012. Ambassador Lambah was the President of Association of Indian Diplomats in 2005. He was a Convener of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) in 2004-05 and the President of the Federation of Indo-German Societies in India from 2005-2014. |
| He was the Special Envoy of the Government of India for Afghanistan and led the Indian delegation to the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan in 2001-02. In 2001, Ambassador Lambah Chaired a Committee on the Re-organization of Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions abroad. Ambassador Lambah has served in several Missions abroad including as the Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Germany, High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, Consul General of India, San Francisco, and Ambassador of India to Hungary. He was Deputy Secretary General of the 7th Non Aligned Summit held in Delhi in 1983 and later Coordinator of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting in India. His specializations include Economic Diplomacy and dealing with India’s neighbours. He opened the Indian Embassy in Bangladesh after liberation. He has been involved in many successful economic ventures. For instance, the first Export of an Indian Car (Sale of Maruti Cars) took place when he was Ambassador in Hungary. India’s largest investment ever upto that time of over $2 Billion in Sakhalin-I was made in 2001 when he was Ambassador in Russia. For this, in March 2015, he was conferred the “Urja Energy Security Award”. During his tenure as Consul General of India in San Francisco (1989-91) he was conferred a "Trustees' Citation" by the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 for his initiating, coordinating, and spearheading the campaign which generated over US$2 million in a short span of four months for Indian Studies, resulting in the creation of two Chairs of India Studies, a bi-annual lecture by a distinguished scholar from India, and an annual scholarship at the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C Berkeley. He is married to Nilima Lambah, author of "A Life Across Three Continents - Recollections of a Diplomat's Wife". |
What is the South Asia Women Parliamentarian Dialogue:
Women’s Feature Service (Delhi), in partnership with the High Commission of Canada, brings together for the first time prominent women leaders from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal. The dialogue aims to provide a platform to discuss and deliberate on issues relating to gender equality, women’s rights, democracy and good governance.
Canada’s involvement:
The protection and advancement of women’s human rights is a central foreign policy priority for Canada. Canada is committed to the view that gender equality is not only a human rights issue, but is also an essential component of sustainable development, social justice, peace, and security. Canada actively promotes the integration of women’s human rights at home and abroad.
About Ananta Centre
Ananta Centre is an independent organization that focuses on leadership development and encourages frank and open dialogue on the most important issues facing Indian society, to help foster its transformation. The Centre also engages civil society, business, governments and other key stakeholders on issues of importance to India's development, foreign policy, strategic affairs and national security.
The ‘Women In International Affairs’ program is a part of a series organized by the Ananta Centre to discuss specific issues relating to women’s empowerment. |
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