Nayab Ali, a transgender rights activist and the first Pakistani transgender person nominated for the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, will join Pakistan's official team at a United Nations human rights review in Geneva this month.
According to a notification issued this month by the Ministry of Human Rights, Minister of State for Law Barrister Aqeel Malik will lead a four-member Pakistani delegation. Nayab Ali is listed as a transgender rights consultant. The meeting, on 3 and 4 November in Geneva, will examine Pakistan's report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the UN treaty covering work, education, health and related rights.
This will be the second time Pakistan has included a transgender woman in an official delegation to a UN human rights treaty review. In February 2020, Ayesha Mughal attended a session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as a transgender expert for the Ministry of Human Rights. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) then described her presence as the first official transgender participation in a UN treaty review.
Path from Okara to the UN table
Nayab Ali has said her path to this role was shaped by violence and exclusion. Before moving to Islamabad, she lived with a guru in Okara. She recalled that after a transgender woman was gang-raped and badly assaulted following an event, the guru told them such attacks were common and that speaking out would change nothing. The survivor asked Nayab for help because she was educated and able to speak up; Nayab went with her to the local police station. A case was eventually registered, she said, but parties later settled without her knowledge and the case was closed.
In 2016, while she was performing at a music festival in Muridwala in Toba Tek Singh district, acid was thrown on her. Parts of her body were burned and she spent months between life and death, facing further hardship during treatment. She has said that period forced a choice: "I decided that I would not stay silent — I would speak and fight."
As a child she was separated from her parents' home and took refuge with a guru, earning a living through dance and congratulations at weddings while keeping education as her priority. She has described mockery, harassment and discrimination at school, college and university, yet she did not quit her studies. After recovering from the acid attack, she set up a community centre for khwaja sira in Okara offering basic education, literacy, vocational training and life skills, arguing that many are shut out of mainstream schools.
Law, police work and global recognition
In the 2018 general election she contested as an independent from Okara's NA-142. She also helped shape the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018 and later worked in an advisory capacity with the Ministry of Human Rights and UNDP. In Islamabad she serves as in-charge of the Islamabad Police Transgender Protection Unit and additional in-charge of the Gender Protection Unit, focusing on faster police response to violence, protection centres, training and clear procedures.
For 2025–2026 she was selected as a Global LGBTQ Human Rights Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard Kennedy School, researching human rights, gender equality and transgender rights in Muslim-majority societies. She has also taken part in Commonwealth high-level meetings and UN forums.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2016: Acid is thrown on Nayab Ali during a music festival performance in Muridwala, Toba Tek Singh district.
- 2018: She contests NA-142 Okara as an independent and helps prepare the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018.
- February 2020: Ayesha Mughal joins Pakistan's official team at a CEDAW session — the first official transgender participation in a UN treaty review, according to UNDP.
- 2025–2026: Nayab Ali is selected as a Global LGBTQ Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights.
- This month: The Ministry of Human Rights names her transgender rights consultant on Pakistan's four-member CESCR review delegation for Geneva on the 3rd and 4th.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Nayab Ali is mahine ki 3 aur 4 tareekh ko Geneva mein Pakistan ki taraf se UN ke human rights meeting mein shamil hongi. Woh team mein transgender rights consultant hain, aur wafad ki sarbrahi Barrister Aqeel Malik karenge. Pehle 2020 mein Ayesha Mughal bhi aise UN session mein Pakistan ke official wafad ka hissa thin. Yeh qadam community ke liye is liye zaroori hai ke un ke masail seedha hakumat ke platform par pehchan hasil karte hain.
