Shahnaz Wazir Ali

Date: May 9, 2019

Shahnaz Wazir Ali has an illustrious career as an educationist, development policy specialist, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party twice elected to National Assembly of Pakistan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sector and as a well known women’s right activist. She served as a Senior Education Specialist on the World Bank; held the position of Minister of State for Education, Govt. of Pakistan; and is on the Board of a number of prestigious national and international organizations, trusts, advisory councils, educational boards, and universities.

From 1988 to 1990, 1993 to 1996 and 2008-13 she had the unique opportunity to serve in key decision making positions in government, in the first term as Member of the National Assembly elected on the reserved seat for women and Federal Minister of State for Education and subsequently, in the second and third term, as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors. From 1997-2001, she served as the Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Islamabad. Her career in and commitment to education can be traced back to 1965, when she commenced teaching primary school children of deprived communities in Karachi, and subsequently spent about 15 years in teaching and administrative positions in the private sector, which included being Principal at the Lahore American School. She is also a Trustee of the Education Trust which runs Nasra Schools for children of low-income families in Karachi and provides K10 education to more than 10,000 students.

Currently she is Provincial Coordinator for the Government of Sindh for all primary health care programs including maternal and child health and Family Planning Programs. She is also the President of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Sciences and Technology.