Press Release
Seminar on “Pakistan’s Women in Peace and Security”
“Greater participation of women in peace, security and diplomacy rests on equity and drawing on society’s full talent. Access to higher education and removing barriers to career progression are also essential.”
This was stated by Ambassador Tehmina Janjua, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, as the keynote speaker at the seminar titled “Pakistan’s Women in Peace and Security,” organized by the Arms Control and Disarmament Centre (ACDC) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI). The event brought together prominent women leaders, diplomats, strategic experts, policy practitioners, and representatives of international organizations to examine and highlight women’s role across the spectrum of hard and soft security, from nuclear safety, security, and strategic stability to peacebuilding and non-traditional security challenges like climate change.
During the Keynote Address, Ambassador Tehmina Janjua stressed the vital need to expand women’s leadership in multilateral diplomacy, arms control negotiations, and international disarmament structures. She highlighted how Pakistani women diplomats have consistently defended national security interests at global platforms. She underscored that national security and diplomacy remain incomplete without full female participation. While acknowledging structural and social barriers, she stressed that excluding women deprives the country of half its expertise and peacemaking potential. Her recommendations underscored the need to eliminate social barriers to progress at home and workplaces, higher education for women, data mapping of female experts across security sectors, student counseling, structured internships in think tanks and media, and embedding women into strategic counter-terrorism analysis.
Addressing the seminar as the Guest of Honor, Ms. Pernille Ironside, UN Resident Coordinator a.i. and UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, emphasized that under UNSCR 1325, women’s inclusion is a straightforward security principle rather than a mere welfare concern. She noted that one in four civilians killed in conflicts are women and that they remain severely underrepresented in formal peace processes. She highlighted that robust security requires utilizing the full potential of women across science, diplomacy, and security to enhance analytical rigor, question assumptions, and ground strategies in practical local realities. She emphasized that a young population of 67% is Pakistan’s greatest asset and is key to long-term stability and prosperity. Pointing to Pakistan’s climate vulnerabilities, such as devastating floods, she stressed that lasting national resilience and regional stability depend on empowering women as central decision-makers across economic, environmental, and security frameworks. She reaffirmed the UN’s steadfast support for Pakistan’s path toward inclusive growth and sustainable peace.
Speaking on “Women’s Contributions in Nuclear Safety, Security and Regulation,” Ms. Noreen Iftakhar, Senior International Relations Officer at PNRA, highlighted how women’s technical, legal, and regulatory expertise directly strengthens national nuclear safety regimes. She outlined the vital roles women play at PNRA, ranging from field inspections and licensing to emergency preparedness and environmental safety. She emphasized that fostering an empowering workplace culture and equal access to international platforms, such as the IAEA, is essential for advancing women in STEM and strategic regulation.
Dr. Salma Malik, Associate Professor at the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), spoke on “Women’s Role in Promoting Strategic Stability.” She underscored that bridging the gender gap in Pakistan’s security architecture requires establishing structured pathways like a dedicated Women, Peace and Strategic Stability Forum, policy apprenticeships, and formal integration into nuclear risk-reduction dialogues. She emphasized the need to include women experts in nuclear risk-reduction and crisis-management dialogues as well as bringing their expertise into AI, cyber, autonomy, and escalation-risk assessments.
Focusing on “Women’s Role in Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping,” Ms. Fahmida Iqbal Khan, Deputy Country Representative of UN Women Pakistan, asserted that women are a decisive counter-terrorism and security asset whose inclusion makes peace more lasting. She highlighted the need to bridge the gap between Pakistan’s strong global peacekeeping record and its internal security strategy, emphasizing that women must be engaged at the grassroots to counter gendered security threats and weaponized technology. She called for urgent institutional actions, including a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), embedding WPS into counter-terrorism frameworks, and increasing female representation across police and peacekeeping workforces.
Highlighting “Women’s Contributions to Climate Resilience and Non-Traditional Security,” Ms. Aisha Aziz Khan, Chief Executive of CSCCC, emphasized that while rural women are on the front lines of climate disasters, food insecurity, and water scarcity, they remain critically underrepresented in decision-making. She stressed that addressing Pakistan’s twin challenges of climate vulnerability and rapid population growth requires urgent structural reform, noting that empowering women could boost GDP by 9–23%. To achieve lasting resilience, she called for a 20-year affirmative action plan ensuring reserved seats and equal access to resources for women across all sectors.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, Ambassador Moin ul Haque, Director General ISSI, emphasized the pivotal role of women in shaping national security, multilateral diplomacy, and sustainable peacebuilding efforts. He highlighted that women’s empowerment is an investment in national resilience, security, and progress, noting that a nation cannot realize its full potential without utilizing the talent of all its people.
Setting the agenda for the seminar, Malik Qasim Mustafa, Director, ACDC, noted that Pakistani women have made significant strides across foreign policy, scientific bodies, defence forces, and academia, and this seminar serves to bring their technical, regulatory, and policy contributions into sharper focus.
