IIS Students Present Paper at International Conference in UAE

The event drew more than one thousand women from around the world to the Emirates Palace Hotel to debate and discuss topics related to this year’s conference theme, “Communities in Transition”.

Keynote speakers included: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, and Cherie Booth, British attorney and human rights advocate, and wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Farrah and Sehreen had conducted phone interviews with six prominent Canadian Ismaili women, including Member of Parliament Yasmin Ratansi, Senator Mobina Jaffer, and AKDN Representative for Kyrgyzstan Nurjehan Mawani, to better understand the factors contributing to these women’s leadership roles and professional success. Family support for their educational pursuits and the ethical teachings of His Highness the Aga Khan and his late grandfather, Aga Khan III, emerged as critical factors in the women’s narratives.

Both Farrah and Sehreen are graduate students at Harvard University, completing Masters degrees in Public Policy and International Education Policy, respectively, this summer.