Shazia Z. Rafi

I am a leader with over twenty-five years experience in diplomacy and international relations, working to build a more representative, accountable and effective international political system.

Interviews & Articles

I have worked as a journalist for over two decades, contributing to publications including Ms. Magazine, the Women’s Media Center, the New York Daily News and the Christian Science Monitor, and have appeared as an analyst on news programs. I write on women’s empowerment, South Asian politics, and the role of parliaments in international affairs. Here are a selection of my articles, speeches, interviews:

The UN’s Concrete Ceiling, January 9, 2017

Why the UN must stop “wondering” about cartoon WW and get going on the real work

Must it be a Woman? UNAUK Magazine, September 21, 2016

Is the US doing enough to elect the first Woman as UN Secretary-General? September 12, 2016

A Woman for Secretary-General of the United Nations: Why Spain should support Madam SG, August 18, 2016

Will Egypt Choose a Woman? June 23, 2016

India-Pakistan must work together to reduce coal dependence and shift to renewables in region May 29, 2016

Can a Woman break the world’s last glass ceiling? My interview with the Independent, May 24, 2016

Challenges to Women’s Political Rights in the UN System: How the Legal Profession Can Help, New York City Bar, March 21, 2016

Boutros Boutros-Ghali: A Personal Tribute, March 10, 2016

“Inequality is morally unfair, politically unwise and in the long term, economically unsound,” Parliament of Morocco, February 19, 2016

#Becauseits2016 its time for #She4SG, January 4, 2016

Preserving the past while we build the future, November 2, 2015

/Including Women leads to Lasting Peace, October 21, 2015

First steps to Cleaner Air: Measure Air-Quality to Improve it, October 5, 2015

Desperate Escapes: Why Syrian and other refugees are rushing to Europe, September 18, 2015

Every Breath we Take: Challenges in Delhi and Beijing, August 17, 2015

Gender Equality and Freedom of Expression, June 18, 2015

World Health Assembly Backs Calls to Strengthen Clean Air SDGs, May 27, 2015

The Still Hidden Face of Eve – Women’s unpaid labor and economic inequality, April 29, 2015

20 years after Beijing Conference on women who still runs the world?, March 26, 2015 

A Case for Gandhara: Restoring our National Narrative, February 19, 2015

Essential Steps: International Lessons-Learnt on Counter-Terrorism for Pakistan, January 18, 2015

Ich bin ein Berliner:Giving teeth to Arms Trade Treaty in Berlin, November 29, 2014

Women’s leadership in passage of global arms treaty, September 25, 2014

Laying Claim to Our Bodies, Women’s Media Center, May 7, 2014: On Spanish women’s activism to protect their reproductive rights.

Pakistan—The Last Destination of the Stars, Women’s Media Center, March 29, 2013: Pakistan’s first democratic transition, and what the United States can do to support women and democracy there.

Tunisia’s Women—Defying the Odds, Women’s Media Center, April 10, 2012: Tunisia is finding its own way while Islamist movements gain power in the region.

Morituri te Salutant: On a “Surge” in Afghanistan, Women’s Media Center, December 8, 2009: We must focus on a political process that respects the rights of women to successfully end international military engagement in Afghanistan.

Addressing the Muslim World, President Obama Reached Well Beyond the Arab Dignitaries, Women’s Media Center, June 8, 2009: On Barack Obama’s Cairo address and his outreach to the Middle East.

Democracy and Pandora’s Box: Family Laws in Afghanistan, Women’s Media Center, April 20, 2009. A proposed marriage law exposes Afghan women to the potential of domestic violence.

New U.S. Policy in AfPak: Looking for Mr. Moderate Taliban, Women’s Media Center, March 16, 2009: We must reject a peace process that sacrifices women’s empowerment.

Turning the Tide against the Taliban: What Works, Women’s Media Center, February 3, 2009: How the Obama Administration can empower the Pakistani people.

Global Connections Television: Bill Miller interviews Shazia Z. Rafi, PGA Secretary-General

Interview with International Business Times on election of UNSG 2016