Zubeida Mustafa

Education

Mustafa completed her Bachelor and then her Master of Arts in International Relations from. She also studied at the London School of Economics under a Commonwealth Scholarship.

Career

She became the first woman to work in the country"s mainstream media, when she joined Dawn in 1975. Born in British India, Mustafa moved to Pakistan with her family after Partition. Mustafa joined Dawn, Pakistan"s leading English language daily in 1975 as assistant editors

She was the only woman in Dawn at a senior level who was the first woman leader writer in the mainstream media in Pakistan.

During that time she used her gender to her advantage and covered the stories that the men could not cover, such as women"s issues concerning health and human rights. She used her perspective as a woman to write editorials promoting international peace and pleading for social justice.

As a female journalist, Mustafa has stated that the injustices Pakistani women suffer "touches her deeply." According to a 2012 Newsline Magazine profile, she mentions how important it is for women to seize the opportunities given to them. Though women"s issues was her main beat, she also focused on education, empowerment, health and population.

She has stated that focusing on education was important since the root of problems in Pakistan was the country"s failure to educate their citizens, especially in health issues.

Achievements

• Global Media Award for Excellence (1986 and 2004) by The Population Institute Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (2005) for her contribution in Books & Authors Lifetime Achievement Award (2012) by International Women Media Foundation (IWMF).