LONDON/LAHORE: A leading women’s rights campaigner of Pakistan origin has been appointed to the House of Lords in the United Kingdom.
Shaista Gohir will sit on the crossbenches, meaning she will not be affiliated with any party, But according to The Sentinal, she will now have a say on the laws passed by Parliament, as well as scrutinising the work of government.
Gohir has been recommended by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission, with the move approved by the prime minister and the Queen, but she is yet to be formally introduced to the House.
The commission makes recommendations for non-party political life peers, as well as vetting most other nominations for membership of the House of Lords. Gohir’s is one of only seven appointments recommended by the commission since 2016.
According to The Independent, Gohir is a women’s rights campaigner and highly influential Muslim woman, who heads up the national award-winning charity Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK).
Her achievements have included setting up the national Muslim Women’s Network Helpline.
Gohir also successfully challenged the Foreign Office policy on charging 16 to 17-year-old forced marriage victims repatriation fees, which was scrapped in 2017.
In 2021, she founded a new charity, the Nisa Global Foundation, to help women and girls in developing countries.
“It means an awful lot to me that I am representing the charity sector. During the Covid pandemic, it became the fourth emergency service, yet we are often not given the kudos that we deserve,” Birmingham Mail quoted Gohir as saying.
“It is about time more people from the charity sector were in the Lords, who know of the issues that are impacting on the daily lives of so many people, more so now with inflation and austerity.
“It means when legislation is going through we can put forward people’s experiences and how it will impact on them. It is also important that more women are represented — only about 28 percent of peers are women,” she added.
