FALAK SUFI MEMORIAL PRIZE
RUNNER UP
AFREINA NOOR submitted a paper entitled ‘Gender, without Men: An Oxymoron’ for the 2008 Falak Sufi Memorial Prize. Her essay has been selected as the runner-up winner and she has been awarded a prize of US$500.
Based in Islamabad, Afreina is an Election Observer by profession. She entered the Development Sector of Pakistan in 2004. She has worked with national and international organizations including a project with the Ministry of Women Development (MoWD), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-Gender Unit), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Cavish Development Foundation (CDF) and is currently working with the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
She is the youth representative of the National Steering Committee for the Education and Employment Alliance (EEA) a project of USAID and International Youth Foundation (IYF) with the Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) and is also affiliated with the Insaani Huqooq Ittehad (Human Rights Group), an Islamabad based active citizens group. She has been an active associate of the core group of the Parliamentary Gender Working Group (P-GWG) for the Strengthening Democracy through Parliamentary Development (SDPD) which is a project of the UNDP-Governance Unit.
By virtue of her profession, Afreina observed the Nepal Election 2008 with the Asian Network for Free and Fair Elections (ANFREL). She was also a participant of the International Visitors Observe Elections (I-VOTE) 2008 of the International Leaders Visitors Program (IVLP) conducted by the State Department of the United States of America.
Apart from this, Afreina wrote the script and concept for a documentary on the centennial celebrations 2007 of ‘Hugh Catchpole’ for Pakistan Television (PTV) which was later aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). She was awarded as the Best Delegate for the LUMS Model United Nation (LUMUN) World Health Organization, as representative of the Delegate of Brazil in 2004, and Honorable Mention for the same committee as a representative delegate of India in 2005. She is also a poetess and writer, and a selection of her poetry can be found on www.afreina.com. Her poem ‘Samjhauta Express’ on Pakistan-India relations was aired on World View from Islamabad a current affairs program of Pakistan Television (PTV) and published in many blogs as well MESAL the yearly magazine of Iqra University Islamabad Campus (IUIC). She wrote a book titled ‘Making the Unknown Home’ for a children’s contest in 1998, which was awarded by the British Council.
Afreina is an alumni member of LUMUN [2004 and 2005], the Young Leaders Conference (YLC) [2005 and 2006], Iqra University Islamabad Campus (IUIC) [2006], ANFREL [2008] and I-VOTE/ IVLP [2008].
She recently graduated with a degree in Development Studies from Iqra University Islamabad Campus (IUIC).