Fauzia Yazdani (Mrs)                                    

Born on 3rd December 1967                

Address: House 61, street 21, F-10/2 Islamabad, Pakistan

Tel. ++ 92 51 2297485 (O), ++92 51  2299752 (H);

mobile: ++ 92 345-8555958; Fax: ++ 92 51 2297599

Email: yazdani@policy.hu , fauziayazdani@gmail.com

Web: www.policy.hu/yazdani

 

EDUCATION

 

2003-2004             International Policy Fellow Researcher of Open Society Institute at Central European University, Budapest,

                              Hungary, for one year research on women’s political empowerment

1998-1999             Post Graduate Diploma in Development Studies, Institute of Developing Economies Advanced School, Tokyo, Japan

1987-1990             Masters in Public Administration with specialization in Management, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

1982-1986             B.A Economics, Govt. Kinnarid College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan

1972-1982             Matriculation Certificate; Govt. Lady Mac Laegon Girls High School, Lahore, Pakistan

 

 PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND EXPERTISE

 

Governance Sector:               Public Sector-government of Pakistan: 8 years working experience with the Government of Pakistan selected after competitive Central Superior Services examination. Worked at Premier Ministries Establishment division focusing HRD and career planning and Economic Affairs liaising with international aid to Pakistan. Managed ADB, WB & UN portfolios

 

Democratization & Electioneering: Implemented UNDP supported project supporting electoral processes and social mobilization in support of democracy with the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2002. Coordinated network of NGOs in 75 Districts, out of 110, in Pakistan to campaign & mobilize women voters. Member of the Technical Working Group of bilateral donors on Governance & Election from 2002-2008. Conceptualized and supervised Political empowerment projects especially women Political empowerment & local governance for the Government of Norway as technical expert from $10m to $ 50 m. Deputy convener & advisory member of regional forum Women in Politics in Asia www.wpaf.org. Member of the Steering Committee of Governance Institute Network Initiative (GINI)

 

Decentralization: Have extensive national and international research experience on the subject in the South Asian Region. Chair of the bilateral donors TWG on devolution in Pakistan 2002-2008. Extensive working with formation of Local Government Association and social mobilization in the realm of devolution

 

Election monitoring: Election monitoring in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh 2008 and reports generate for Women in Politics in Asia Forum www.wpaf.org

 

Media & Democracy technical advisor to South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) and South Asian Women in Media (SAWM)

 

Gender & Development        Served as Gender focal point with the Government of Pakistan and for the Norwegian Government in Pakistan.  Research and work experience of historic and current Gender issues at global and south Asian level. Expertise in programme framework development & assessment, impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation in Gender-Governance sector. Served as Chair of the Inter-Agency Gender and Development forum (INGAD) of bilateral & multilateral donors in Pakistan. Prepared the Gender Equality Project and its subsequent phase’s up to Gender Support Programme for UNDP.  Conceived and implementing women grants programme 2007-2008 focusing women economic empowerment for the Norwegian Embassy, Pakistan.  

 

NGO Sector:                         Established and coordinated network of NGOs for voter advocacy and campaigning in Pakistan for elections in 2002.

                                               Facilitated a network of 30 NGOs for election in 2008. Experience in NGO organizational assessment, institution

                                               development & working.

 

Aid/Resource Mobilization

& donor coordination:         Member of Donors Poverty Reduction Working Group 2004-2008. Experience in resource mobilization, aid effectiveness and donorharmonization. Well versed with Paris declaration and harmonized approaches. Experience in development and implementation of multi donor programmatic approach

Participatory Planning

approaches:                            Extensive experience in the design and implementation of community based projects. Experience in log-frame analysis (LFA) and qualitative evaluation approaches; experience of carrying out annual/end of project reviews, Focus group interviews/ discussion and analysis.

 Computer skills:                    Well versed in all windows application

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

 The Consulting Researchers - April 2008

TCR - The Consulting Researchers is a consulting firm led by myself. It has a  pool of experts on Politics, Gender, Governance, Advocacy, Communication, Child Right, Empowerment specialists and economist which are available for range of assignments. We undertake political analysis, briefing papers for parliamentarians, programme development for social sector projects/programmes, M&E, Reviews, etc. My recent work has been with DFID, UNDP, Norway, SDC, CIDA, UNIFEM as follows:

 

 

Bilateral & Multilateral international organizations (approx. 7 years):

 

Norwegian Embassy, Islamabad (March 2003 –March 2008 )

Development Advisor Governance, Democracy, Gender & Human Rights

 

Norwegian Embassy has approximately $10 million annual development portfolio in Pakistan. Governance accounts to 50% of the same. My portfolio involves needs assessment to project/programme implementation to impact assessment. I have 11 projects worth $ 20 million with implementing partners like UN system, Bilateral donors and national civil society organization.

 

    My work entailed project management, financial management, planning processes and approaches, review, monitoring and evaluation. I am Embassy’s expert and resource person on governance, democratization and Gender in Pakistan for analytical assessment & advice. I have founded the technical working group on governance having DFID, USAID, CIDA, SDC, Netherlands and Norway as members which promotes donor coordination and harmonization efforts. I am member of the bilateral & donor coordination groups on Governance and Gender. I have also been the Chair Inter Agency Group on Gender & Development (INGAD). My professional expertise are inclusive of planning and implementation approaches to mainstream Gender and assess impacts from social, economic & political empowerment perspective.

 

United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, Pakistan (June 2001 – January 2003)

Programme Coordinator (NGO) for UNDP project

Supporting Democratic Electoral Processes in Pakistan (SDEPP)

 

My assignment was to implement the NGO component of the UNDP project with Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). It was a multi donor (CIDA, DFID, Norway) project, $ 4 million,  implemented under UNDP auspices being its flagship Gender-Governance project. My assignment was to strengthen gender-governance nexus by promoting gender equity, equality and accountability by gender mainstreaming in political arena by enhancing women voter turn out and candidature especially for 2002 General Election in Pakistan. Advocacy, skill training and awareness raising were the major tools, among others, which were used to create/facilitate conducive enabling environment for women’s active political representation. . I created a network of 8 national NGOs focusing 75 districts across Pakistan along with developing linkages with all concerned Government departments, political parties and academia. My job further included micro to macro project management (developing work plans and strategies) financial management (internal and external) followed by progress monitoring & Evaluation.

 

National Government of Pakistan  (approx. 8 years):

Economic Affairs Division (EAD), Govt. of Pakistan, Islamabad (July 1997- May 2001)

Section Officer

 

This Division is responsible for the coordination of external economic assistance on behalf of the Government of Pakistan. It includes policy planning, resource mobilization, negotiations and processing of external economic assistance, in shape of loans, technical assistance and grants, with Donor Agencies, Institutions, Financial Corporations and Banks. EAD is the focal point to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the projects portfolios of all the Multilateral and bilateral Donors in Pakistan.

 I was assigned to manage UNDP portfolio, 1 1/2 year, in the area of Gender, Governance and Sustainable livelihood. I worked as a focal point for Gender and for the stakeholders, i.e. government agencies and Donors, for coordination on all issues, strategies and trouble shooting. It involved continuous interaction and close liaison for strategy and project development with UNDP Country Office and with project team for implementation and monitoring of the projects. I have been part of various national and international M&E Missions. On Government’s behalf, I prepared reports on the key strategic issues and analysis papers for national and international forums. I have also co-authored with UNDP, from GOP side, Project Cycle Operation Manual (P.COM) III.

I was assigned to liaise with PRM, Asian Development Bank, 1 1/2 year, for coordination, processing and implementation of the projects in the Financial, Energy, Social, Agriculture and Infrastructure Sectors being implemented by the Provincial and Federal Government. I was involved from pre-feasibility stage of the project till its completion. My section coordinated, monitored, supervised and administered ADB projects on behalf of Government along with conduction of quarterly project portfolio reviews and country programming.  I attended a month long training cum orientation Programme of ADB in Manila to be fully on board with project operation cycle.

 I also did over coordination of the Division, 1 year, involving development of mission statement and performance indicators for EAD including coordination with Parliament, National Assembly & Senate.  I was entrusted with Administration of 94 officers of EAD and focal point for right sizing/restructuring of the EAD which included revised job descriptions and improved reporting lines. The plan authored by me was approved without any change.

 

Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan (October 1993 - June 1997)

Section Officer

This Division is responsible for coordination with all the Federal Ministries/ Divisions, as well as the Provincial Governments, in respect of formulation and implementation of policies for the effective functioning of the Government of Pakistan. It also takes care of the career planning and Human Resource development of the officers.

My job, for 3 years, was to coordinate with Federal Public Service Commission, Pakistan Administrative Staff College, National Institute of Public Administration, Civil Services Academy and Secretariat Training Institute on financial, administrative and budgetary issues. For, 1 ½ year, upon qualifying the Pakistan civil Services Competitive Examination I underwent 8 months of training at Civil Services Academy, Lahore followed by 8 months training at Secretariat Training Institute, Islamabad.

Private Sector (approx. 7 years)

 

Highland Travels Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited, Lahore (October 1986 - October 1993)

Manager

I have worked for seven years with an IATA approved travel agency in the capacity of manager. This agency had a varied clientele ranging from manual worker to members of Judiciary and Parliament. As a Manager, I was responsible for the administrative and financial management of the company.

 

Freelance (1990 to 1993)

I have also worked as visiting faculty in Canadian School of Management, Lahore a private University. I taught the subjects of Marketing Research, Financial Management and Strategic Management to post graduate students. Furthermore, I was also involved in preparing feasibility for various industries for International Management Consultants, Lahore.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (ARTICLES / PAPERS)

·         Beginning of an end for women in mainstream politics in Pakistan

·         Feeling Decentralization – published in leading national newspaper “The NEWS”

·         Women in Politics at Local Government: Barriers & Beyond in Pakistan – published in book titled “Women & empowerment:

           experiences from some Asian  countries” published by Unistar Books Pvt Ltd, Chandigarh, India

·         International conflicts and socio-religious crossroads -a mere media hype: Perspective of Pakistan - a front line state –

           published in Policy perspective Journal of Open Society Institute Budapest

·         Women’s Representation in Local Government in Pakistan: impact analysis and future policy implications,

           Research paper for International Policy Fellowship June 2004 (www.policy.hu/yazdani)

·         Women and Decentralization: a case of Pakistan, Paper at NFU Annual Conference of Politics & Poverty,

           National Institute of Urban & Regional Research, Oslo (paper is available at www.nibr.no )

·         Industrial Restructure and Enhancement of International Competitiveness for developing countries:

           a case for Pakistan, published in IDEAS International Journal

·         Environment in Pakistan and Japan: A lesson for Pakistan – Thesis report of the Post Graduate Diploma in Tokyo, Japan

·         Environmental Issues in Pakistan – A case study of Kasur Tanneries: A syndicate report at Civil Services Academy, Lahore,

·         Essentials for Project Management from the Government Perspective: checklist for Prof. Leithium of Duke University, USA,

           in postgraduate course of Project Management at Tokyo, Japan,

·         Government failure is more serious problem than market failure in the developing countries: an article for Prof. H.J.

           Chang of Cambridge University, U.K, in postgraduate course of Issues of Development economics at Tokyo, Japan,

·         Child labor – to be or not to be? An article for Prof. Kaushik Basu of Cornell University, USA,

           in postgraduate course of Issues of development in Social sector at Tokyo, Japan,

 

TRAINING/ COURSES

 Attended numerous training & courses in the field of Governance, Decentralization, gender, ets, details can be provided if required

 

LANGUAGES                                         Verbal                                                    Written

                                     Urdu                       fluent                                                      fluent

 English                   fluent                                                       fluent

 Hindi                      strong working knowledge                        -

                                     Punjabi                   fluent                                                       fluent

 

REFERENCES

 

1. Janis Bjørm Kanavin              Ex- Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan,  jbk@mfa.no

2. Mr. Navid Ahsan                   Chairman National Accountability Bureau

3. Mr. Hamid Sharif                   Controller Operation & Services Division

 Asian Development Bank,  hsharif@adb.org