How women in Pakistan are creating political change

Activist Shad Begum has spent her life empowering women to live up to their full potential. In a personal talk, she shares her determined struggle to improve the lives of women in her deeply religious and conservative community in northwest Pakistan -- and calls for women around the world to find their political voice. "We must stand up for our own rights -- and not wait for someone else to come and help us," Begum says.

I'm here to tell you

how change is happening
at a local level in Pakistan,

because women are finding their place
in the political process.

I want to take you all on a journey
to the place I was raised,

northwest Pakistan, called Dir.

Dir was founded in the 17th century.

It was a princely state
until its merger with Pakistan in 1969.

Our prince, Nawab Shah Jahan,
reserved the right to wear white,

the color of honor, but only for himself.

He didn't believe in educating his people.

And at the time of my birth in 1979,

only five percent of boys
and one percent of girls

received any schooling at all.

I was one among that one percent.

Growing up, I was very close to my father.

He is a pharmacy doctor,
and he sent me to school.

Every day, I would go to his clinic
when my lessons finished.

He's a wonderful man
and a well-respected community leader.

He was leading a welfare organization,

and I would go with him
to the social and political gatherings

to listen and talk to the local men
about our social and economic problems.

However, when I was 16,

my father asked me to stop coming with him
to the public gatherings.

Now, I was a young woman,
and my place was in the home.

I was very upset.

But most of my family members,
they were happy with this decision.

It was very difficult for me

to sit back in the home
and not be involved.

It took two years

that finally my family agreed
that my father could reconnect me

with women and girls,

so they could share their problems
and together we could resolve them.

So, with his blessings,

I started to reconnect
with women and girls

so we could resolve
their problems together.

When women show up,

they bring their realities
and views with them.

And yet, I have found all too often,

women underestimate their own strength,

their potential and their self-respect.

However, while connecting
with these women and girls,

it became very clear to me

that if there was to be any hope
to create a better life

for these women and girls
and their families,

we must stand up for our own rights --

and not wait for someone else
to come and help us.

So I took a huge leap of faith

and founded my own organization in '94

to create our very own platform
for women empowerment.

I engaged many women and girls
to work with me.

It was hard.

Many of the women working with me
had to leave once they got married,

because their husbands
wouldn't let them work.

One colleague of mine
was given away by her family

to make amends for a crime
her brother had committed.

I couldn't help her.

And I felt so helpless at that time.

But it made me more determined
to continue my struggle.

I saw many practices like these,

where these women suffered silently,
bearing this brutality.

But when I see a woman

struggling to change her situation
instead of giving up,

it motivates me.

So I ran for a public office

as an independent candidate in Lower Dir

in the local elections in 2001.

Despite all the challenges and hurdles
I faced throughout this process, I won.

(Applause)

And I served in the public
office for six years.

But unfortunately,

we women, elected women,

we were not allowed to sit in the council
together with all the members

and to take part in the proceedings.

We had to sit in a separate,
ladies-only room,

not even aware what
was happening in the council.

Men told me

that, "You women, elected women members,

should buy sewing machines for women."

When I knew what they needed the most
was access to clean drinking water.

So I did everything I could do

to prioritize the real challenges
these women faced.

I set up five hand pumps
in the two dried up wells in my locality.

Well, we got them working again.

Before long, we made water accessible
for over 5,000 families.

We proved that anything the men could do,

so could we women.

I built alliances
with other elected women members,

and last year,

we women were allowed to sit together
with all the members in the council.

(Applause)

And to take part in the legislation
and planning and budgeting,

in all the decisions.

I saw there is strength in numbers.

You know yourselves.

Lack of representation
means no one is fighting for you.

Pakistan is --

We're 8,000 miles away
from where I'm here with you today.

But I hope what I'm about to tell you
will resonate with you,

though we have this big distance
in miles and in our cultures.

When women show up,

they bring the realities and hopes
of half a population with them.

In 2007, we saw the rise of the Taliban

in Swat, Dir and nearby districts.

It was horrifying.

The Taliban killed innocent people.

Almost every day,

people collected the dead bodies
of their loved ones from the streets.

Most of the social and political leaders

struggling and working
for the betterment of their communities

were threatened and targeted.

Even I had to leave,

leaving my children
behind with my in-laws.

I closed my office in Dir
and relocated to Peshawar,

the capital of my province.

I was in trauma,
kept thinking what to do next.

And most of the family members and friends

were suggesting, "Shad, stop working.

The threat is very serious."

But I persisted.

In 2009, we experienced a historic influx
of internally displaced persons,

from Swat, Dir and other nearby districts.

I started visiting the camps
almost every day,

until the internally displaced persons

started to go back
to their place of origin.

I established four mother-child
health care units,

especially to take care of
over 10,000 women and children

nearby the camps.

But you know, during
all these visits,

I observed that there was very little
attention towards women's needs.

And I was looking for
what is the reason behind it.

And I found it was because
of the underrepresentation of women

in both social and political platforms,
in our society as a whole.

And that was the time when I realized

that I need to narrow down my focus

on building and strengthening
women's political leadership

to increase their
political representation,

so they would have their own
voice in their future.

So we started training around 300
potential women and youth

for the upcoming local elections in 2015.

And you know what?

Fifty percent of them won.

(Applause)

And they are now sitting in the councils,

taking part actively in the legislation,
planning and budgeting.

Most of them are now investing their funds

on women's health, education,
skill development and safe drinking water.

All these elected women now

share, discuss and resolve
their problems together.

Let me tell you about two
of the women I have been working with:

Saira Shams.

You can see, this young lady, age 26,

she ran for a public office in 2015
in Lower Dir, and she won.

She completed two of the community
infrastructure schemes.

You know, women, community
infrastructure schemes ...

Some people think this is men's job.

But no, this is women's job,
too, we can do it.

And she also fixed two of the roads
leading towards girls schools,

knowing that without access
to these schools,

they are useless to the girls of Dir.

And another young woman is Asma Gul.

She is a very active member
of the young leaders forum we established.

She was unable to run
for the public office,

so she has become the first
female journalist of our region.

She speaks and writes for women's
and girls' issues and their rights.

Saira and Asma,
they are the living examples

of the importance of inclusion
and representation.

Let me tell you this, too.

In the 2013 general elections in Pakistan

and the local elections in 2015,

there were less than 100
women voters in Dir.

But you know what?

I'm proud to tell you that this year,
during the general elections,

there were 93,000 women voters in Dir.

(Applause)

So our struggle is far from over.

But this shift is historic.

And a sign that women are standing up,
showing up and making it absolutely clear

that we all must invest
in building women's leadership.

In Pakistan and here in the United States,

and everywhere in the world,

this means women in politics,
women in business

and women in positions of power
making important decisions.

It took me 23 years to get here.

But I don't want any girl or any woman

to take 23 years of her life
to make herself heard.

I have had some dark days.

But I have spent
every waking moment of my life

working for the right of every woman
to live her full potential.

Imagine with me a world

where thousands of us stand up

and they support
other young women together,

creating opportunities and choices
that benefit all.

And that, my friends,
can change the world.

Thank you.

(Applause)