Women of Pakistan: Maleeha Lodhi

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Maleeha Lodhi

 She is a Pakistani diplomat, military strategist, academician and political scientist who serves as Pakistan's Representative to the United Nations, the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she served as Pakistan's envoy to the Court of St James's and twice as its ambassador to the United States.

Born in Lahore to an upper-middle-class family, Lodhi studied political science at the London School of Economics and after receiving her doctorate from the school in 1980, she remained there as a member of faculty teaching political sociology. She returned to Pakistan in 1986 to become the editor of The Muslim, making her the first woman to edit a national newspaper in Asia. In 1990, she moved to become the founding editor of The News International. ^[6] In 1994, she was appointed by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as Pakistan's envoy to the United States, a position she retained until 1997. She was once again appointed to the same position in 1999 by President Musharraf until 2002 when she completed her tenure and moved on to be High Commissioner to the UK.

In 2001, Lodhi became a member of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament, she served on the board until 2005. In 2003, President Musharraf appointed her as Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the Court of St James's, where she remained until 2008. Between 2008 and 2010, she served as a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics and the Kennedy School of Harvard University. In February 2015, Lodhi was appointed by Prime Minister Sharif to serve as Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Pakistan to the UN in New York City, making her the first woman to hold the position.

Lodhi is one of Pakistan's prominent diplomats. She has been named as an international scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and, in 1994, Lodhi was named by the Time magazine as one of a hundred people in the world who will help to shape the 21st century. Lodhi was also a member of the National Defense University's Senate, and has been a member of the advisory council of IISS and continues to be a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum. Lodhi is the recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiazfor Public Service and holds an honorary fellowship from the London School of Economics since 2004 and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the London Metropolitan University in 2005. She is the author of two books, Pakistan: the External challenge and Pakistan’s Encounter with Democracy. She edited Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State in 2010.