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A legacy project of IPDS · Flagship of the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership

Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress

Connecting the women who lead today with the young women who will lead next.

Since 2015 the Congress has brought young women from every province of Pakistan, and from Afghanistan, face to face with senior women in politics, diplomacy, public service, media, civil society and business. Mentors pass on what they have learned. Mentees turn it into policy ideas, community projects and careers of their own, and each cohort widens the circle for the next.

Partner with the Fourth Congress Join the alumni network
Participants and mentors of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress, Islamabad, January 2019
Afghanistan and Pakistan Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress, Grand Ambassador Hotel, Islamabad, 14–15 January 2019.
3Congresses convened: 2015, 2017 and a cross-border edition in 2019
2Countries in the 2019 cohort: Pakistan and Afghanistan
30Young women selected for each national cohort
19Senior mentors at the first Congress, across parties, media, civil society and government
Why now

Why Pakistan needs a leadership programme for young women

Pakistan’s young women are better educated than at any point in the country’s history, yet they remain largely absent from the rooms where decisions are made. The Congress exists to close that distance.

143rd of 145Pakistan’s place in the Global Gender Gap Index 2026, despite its strongest annual improvement in a decadeWEF
91.7%Gender parity in education in Pakistan, a record highWEF
6.5%Share of legislators, senior officials and managers in Pakistan who are womenWEF
21.7%Women in the National Assembly: 72 of 332 members, 60 of them in seats reserved for womenIPU
8 of 311Women aged 40 or under among members of the National Assembly elected in 2024IPU
169th of 181Pakistan’s rank in the Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26GIWPS
2 in 3Pakistanis who are under 30UNFPA
194 yearsTime to close the global gender gap in political empowerment at the current paceWEF

Sources: World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2026 · Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline: Pakistan · Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, WPS Index 2025/26 · UNFPA, State of Pakistan’s Population Report 2024. Figures as published in 2025 and 2026.

The problem

The talent is there. Educational parity for women in Pakistan has reached a record high, and nearly two in three Pakistanis are under 30. What young women lack is access: to the people who have held power, to the networks that lead to it, and to a first real chance to be heard.

The numbers show where the pipeline breaks. Most women in the National Assembly hold reserved seats, very few are under 40, and only one senior official or manager in fifteen is a woman.

Our answer

A direct connection between the young women who will lead and the women who have already led. The Congress puts young women from every province in the same room as senior women from politics, diplomacy, public service, media, civil society and business, and gives them a platform to turn education into leadership.

Young women are agents of change. Given the chance, they have the energy, intellect and talent to transform their society, and the Congress is designed to give them that chance.

A legacy project

What one generation of women leaders hands on to the next

IPDS calls the Congress a legacy project because its purpose outlasts any single edition. The senior women who mentor each cohort pass on experience that took them decades to gain. The young women who receive it carry it into their own fields, and many go on to open doors for others.

That is how the impact multiplies. One Congress of thirty young women reaches back into as many universities, offices and communities, and every alumna who returns as a mentor starts the cycle again.

The programme

The first Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress was organised in Islamabad in 2015, bringing together young women leaders from across Pakistan with senior women leaders, policymakers, diplomats and civil society actors. The programme focuses on leadership development, women’s political participation, peace, governance and public policy, and creates direct mentoring links between senior women leaders and emerging young women from diverse academic, professional and social backgrounds.

Over three editions the Congress has moved beyond a one-off conference model. It works as a practical leadership platform that identifies talent, builds capacity, creates visibility, and connects young women with the institutions where decisions are made.

Aims of the Congress
  1. To inspire and facilitate an advanced exchange of fresh ideas, knowledge and experience of leadership building and networking, for inclusive, gender-sensitive development and governance processes in Pakistan.
  2. To shape a generation of young women leaders who are positive, confident and informed enough to overcome the institutional obstacles that have kept them from realising their full potential.
  3. To prepare young women with the skills and knowledge for careers in government, diplomatic missions, the civil service, media, health, human rights, law and international organisations.
  4. To expose young women professionals to different ideas, experiences, research, policy briefs and position papers, advancing knowledge and expertise.
  5. To give women leaders from every part of society visibility, and draw the attention of the state, government and society to the potential of young women as Pakistan’s future leaders.
“We are now struggling for a new world which is based on peace, which is based on love, which is based on justice, which is based on accountability, based on human rights.”
Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Laureate 2011, chief guest of the first Congress, Islamabad, December 2015
Impact

What the Congress has achieved

Ten years, three editions and a growing alumni network. The numbers below come from IPDS’s own reports and public records of each edition.

3Congresses: 2015, 2017 and a cross-border edition in 2019
55Young women in the two national cohorts: 30 in 2015 and 25 in 2017
19Senior women mentors in 2015, from across the political spectrum
8Institutional partners from Germany, Australia, the region and Pakistan
4Projects the 2017 cohort designed for BISP’s women beneficiaries
1Centre founded at the Congress: Women, Peace and Leadership, 2015
2Countries in one cohort: Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2019
3Chevening Scholars among Congress alumnae
3Alumnae nominated for the N-Peace Awards
1UN OHCHR Minority Fellow, Geneva, 2018

A Nobel Laureate at the founding

Tawakkol Karman chaired the first Congress on her first visit to Pakistan and signed the foundation stone of the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership with Farhat Asif.

Cross-party mentoring in one room

Mentors from the Senate, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, the Awami National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami worked with the same cohort in 2015.

From ideas to a federal programme

In 2017 the Benazir Income Support Programme made the cohort its Brand Ambassadors, and four committees presented projects to the Minister.

A cohort across a border

In 2019 young women from Afghanistan and Pakistan met as one cohort and proposed Weave for Peace for displaced and refugee women.

Alumnae on the world stage

Congress alumnae have gone on to Chevening Awards, the UN human rights office’s Minorities Fellowship and N-Peace Award nominations.

Recognition for the founder

The N-Peace Award 2017 recognised Farhat Asif’s work on sensitive cross-border issues, and she became the first Pakistani IWF Leadership Fellow.

The mentoring model

How mentors and mentees work together

The Congress rests on two ideas. Women who have reached the top of their fields invest personally in the young women coming after them. And every young woman leaves with something to carry back to her own community: a policy brief, an action plan or a project of her own.

MenteesYoung women at the start of their careers, from universities, professions and communities in every region of Pakistan, and from Afghanistan in 2019.
MentorsSenior women leaders from politics, diplomacy, media, civil society, the civil service, education and business, who give their time and experience in person.
LearningTwo days of closed workshops grouped by field, followed by a public Congress, on themes from peace and nonviolence to governance, law and media.
LegacyEach participant leaves with a policy brief or joint action plan, and cohorts design projects of their own, such as the four BISP committees in 2017 and Weave for Peace in 2019.
NetworkA standing alumni network that keeps mentors and mentees connected, now open for every cohort to join on this page.
The multiplier
01

Mentors

Senior women give their time, experience and networks.

02

Cohort

Around thirty young women from every region work with them.

03

Plans

Policy briefs, action plans and projects come out of the room.

04

Communities

Alumnae take them back to universities, offices and communities.

05

Next cohort

Alumnae are invited back as mentors, and the circle widens.

How a Congress runs
01

Selection

Around thirty young women are invited from universities and professions in all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, the former FATA and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, including women from religious minorities, transgender women and women with disabilities.

02

Mentoring workshops

Two days of closed breakout sessions in which participants work with seasoned mentors: political leaders, lawyers, development specialists, journalists, academics and human rights activists.

03

Policy briefs

Participants develop short policy briefs on subjects of their choice during and after the sessions, present them in the workshops, and share them for wider readership.

04

Public Congress

A final day open to the public, where participants and mentors take the discussion to a wider audience of officials, diplomats, media and students.

05

Action plans

Participants draft joint action plans on the issues they face, and cohorts form committees that turn them into projects, as the 2017 cohort did with BISP.

06

A standing network

Fellows stay connected after the Congress. They continue to promote and collaborate on each other’s work, and join IPDS dialogues and programmes.

Workshop themes
Women and LeadershipPeace and NonviolenceGender and DevelopmentGovernance and LawCivic EngagementMedia and TechnologyWomen in Politics
Editions

Three Congresses, one growing network

Each edition kept the same core, young women working alongside senior mentors, and pushed it further: from a national leadership dialogue in 2015, to direct engagement with a federal programme in 2017, to a cross-border cohort in 2019.

2015
First Congress

Building on the Past, Embracing the Future

1–3 December 2015 · Islamabad Hotel and National Library Auditorium, Islamabad

The first Congress, subtitled Network of Present and Future Women Leaders of Pakistan, was organised by IPDS and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), in partnership with the Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences Pakistan (IUCPSS) and the National Testing Service (NTS) Pakistan. Thirty young women were selected from across the country.

  • Chaired and inaugurated by Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman, Nobel Peace Laureate 2011, on her first visit to Pakistan. Diplomats, women parliamentarians, party leaders and senior officials attended the opening.
  • Ms Karman and IPDS President Farhat Asif signed the foundation stone of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, themed “For Every Woman”. It is today the IPDS Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership.
  • Six mentoring sessions brought 19 senior women from politics, media, civil society, the civil service, education and business to work with the participants (see Mentors).
  • The Congress closed with a public talk by Ms Karman at the National Library Auditorium on 3 December 2015.
Women’s Role in Politics: Opportunities and ChallengesWomen in Media: Gaining Equality and SuccessRole of Women in Civil Society for Empowering Fellow WomenBureaucracy and Pakistani Women at Leadership PositionsChallenges for Women in EducationStartups and Business: Pakistani Women Breaking New Ground
Coverage: The Nation, 1 December 2015 · IPDS event record
Tawakkol Karman with HSF Resident Representative Kristof W. Duwaerts at the public talk, 3 December 2015.
Tawakkol Karman with HSF Resident Representative Kristof W. Duwaerts at the public talk, 3 December 2015.
Congress session, Islamabad Hotel.
Congress session, Islamabad Hotel.
Mentors in conversation with the cohort.
Mentors in conversation with the cohort.
2017
Second Congress

From leadership dialogue to practical policy engagement

2017 · Islamabad

The second Congress was jointly organised by IPDS, the Australian Government through the Australian High Commission, The City School and the Women’s Regional Network. It brought together 25 emerging women leaders from Gilgit-Baltistan, FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, with political leaders, media figures, civil society pioneers and development professionals as their mentors.

  • Participants visited the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) headquarters, where Ms Marvi Memon, then Minister of State and Chairperson BISP, formally engaged them as BISP Brand Ambassadors.
  • The cohort formed four committees, each tasked with designing an implementable project for BISP’s women beneficiaries, and presented structured proposals directly to the Minister for follow-up.
  • BISP opened the platform of its Beneficiary Committees to Congress members for projects aimed at developing and empowering women.
E-Commerce CommitteeMarketing handicrafts made by BISP beneficiaries.
University BuddiesStudent volunteers teaching entrepreneurial and farming skills.
Women Empowerment ModuleTraining on nutrition, hygiene, finance and maternal health.
Book ProjectStories of BISP beneficiaries across districts, in native languages and English.
Coverage: Press Information Department, Government of Pakistan, 6 April 2017 · Pakistan Point
Jointly organised by IPDS, the Australian Government, The City School and the Women’s Regional Network.
Jointly organised by IPDS, the Australian Government, The City School and the Women’s Regional Network.
The 2017 cohort with mentors and partners.
The 2017 cohort with mentors and partners.
Congress members in session.
Congress members in session.
2019
Third Congress

Afghanistan and Pakistan: the Congress crosses the border

14–15 January 2019 · Grand Ambassador Hotel, Islamabad

The third Congress was a cross-border, regional initiative. With the support of the N-Peace Network, IPDS brought young women leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Islamabad for two days to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and explore avenues for peace, collaboration and leadership in the region.

  • Participants worked on joint initiatives in peacebuilding and social development for their own communities, and on strengthening woman-to-woman contact between the two countries.
  • Pakistani and Afghan participants co-developed and proposed Weave for Peace, an initiative for the economic empowerment of displaced and refugee women through craft skills and access to markets.
  • The Congress also brought together N-Peace Award winners from both countries.
Coverage: The Express Tribune, 16 January 2019 · IPDS event record
Working session under the Congress banner.
Working session under the Congress banner.
An introductions session opens the Congress.
An introductions session opens the Congress.
Participants from both countries after a session.
Participants from both countries after a session.
Mentors

Who mentored the first cohort

Mentors at the 2015 Congress came from across the political spectrum and from media, civil society, the civil service, education and business. Titles are given as they were held in December 2015.

Session 1

Women’s Role in Politics: Opportunities and Challenges

Moderator: Senator Nuzhat Sadiq, Chairperson, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Mentors: Senator Sitara Ayaz, Awami National Party; Shaista Pervaiz Malik, General Secretary, Women’s Parliamentary Caucus; Fauzia Kasuri, National Organiser for Gender Empowerment, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf; Dr Samia Raheel Qazi, Director Foreign Affairs, Women Wing, Jamaat-e-Islami

Session 2

Women in Media: Gaining Equality and Success

Moderator: Moneeza Hashmi, President, Public Media Alliance

Mentors: Tasneem Ahmar, Executive Director, Uks Research Centre; Farah Warraich, Editor, Jahan-e-Pakistan; Sultana Siddiqui, CEO, HUM TV Network; Tawakkol Karman, founder, Women Journalists Without Chains

Session 3

Role of Women in Civil Society for Empowering Fellow Women

Moderator: Zubaida Jalal, former Federal Minister and educationist

Mentors: Manizeh Bano, Executive Director, Sahil; Farhana Faruqi-Stocker, international consultant; Kishwar Sultana, Director, Insan Foundation Trust; Azra Nafees Yousafzai, social and peace activist

Session 4

Bureaucracy and Pakistani Women at Leadership Positions

Moderator: Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, civil servant, scholar, writer and broadcaster

Mentors: Zubaida Jalal; Dr Fouzia Khan, Head of Curriculum Wing, Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh

Session 5

Challenges for Women in Education

Moderator: Azra Nafees Yousafzai

Mentors: Zubaida Jalal; Dr Fouzia Khan; Mehtab Akbar Rashdi

Session 6

Startups and Business: Pakistani Women Breaking New Ground

Moderator: Azra Nafees Yousafzai

Mentors: Masarrat Misbah, CEO, Smile Again Foundation; Seema Aziz, CEO, CARE Foundation

What the first cohort recommended

Each session closed with recommendations agreed by mentors and participants and recorded in the Congress report. A selection:

PoliticsRaise the share of seats reserved for women in the National Assembly, then about 23 per cent, to at least 33 per cent, and encourage and support women to contest general seats.
PoliticsEnsure meaningful participation of women in the executive committees and councils of the National Assembly, and in ministerial nominations.
Local governmentSecure women’s representation at every level of local government, including chair and vice-chair positions.
MediaOpen a dialogue with women studying media, who are underrepresented in professional media, and give them mentoring for careers in front of and behind the camera.
RightsLegislate for the rights of women with disabilities, and for safety, economic opportunity and fair reward in the workplace.
EducationProvide education, health and nutrition for women in conflict-affected areas, and publish the success stories of young women leaders as a source of inspiration.
Alumni

Where Congress fellows have gone

EYWLC alumni have gone on to national and international leadership programmes, policy fellowships, and peace and governance initiatives, and several have been nominated for prestigious platforms and awards.

9 alumnae listed. The list grows as members of each cohort join the network.

First Congress, 2015

Nida Fatima Zaidi

Producer, PTV

Produced a PTV documentary on a fellow Congress alumna’s campaign for International Women’s Day.

Congress alumnae

Fatima Lodhi

Founder, Dark is Divine

Leads Dark is Divine, a campaign against colourism, and was nominated for the N-Peace Awards in the Untold Stories category.

Hira Nazir

Chevening Scholar

Selected for a Chevening Award, and featured by Humans of Peshawar for her work.

Jalila Haider

Chevening Scholar

Selected for a UK Government Chevening Award, and received the Chevening Asma Jahangir Award.

Mariyam Suleman

Chevening Scholar, writer

Selected for a Chevening Award. Has written for Dawn, including on women candidates in Balochistan in the 2018 general elections.

Sehyr Mirza

N-Peace Award nominee

Nominated for the N-Peace Awards in the Campaign for Action category.

Shazia Ahmed Langove

Candidate for public office

Contested elections in Balochistan to serve the people of her province.

Tahira Bachal

N-Peace Award nominee

Nominated for the N-Peace Awards in the Untold Stories category.

Zainab Gohar

UN OHCHR Minority Fellow, 2018

Selected for the OHCHR Minorities Fellowship Programme in Geneva, a four-week training on the UN system, international human rights mechanisms and minority issues, representing the Hazara community.

“Previous participants have gone on to write books, be the sole Pakistani woman representative in a number of international conferences, and build and lead civil society coalitions to end violence against women.”

Women’s Regional Network, co-host of the Congress
The alumni network

Part of a cohort? Add yourself.

More than fifty young women have taken part in the Congress since 2015. We want every one of them on this page. Tell us where your work has taken you and we will add you to the alumni network.

Alumnae will be the first invited to the Fourth Congress, as mentors, speakers and peer guides for the next cohort.

Every entry is reviewed by IPDS before it appears. You decide whether you are listed publicly or kept in the private network only. Your email and phone number are never published.

Were you part of a Congress cohort?

Join the EYWLC alumni network. Tell us where your work has taken you since the Congress. IPDS reviews every entry before it appears on this page, and you choose whether you are listed publicly or kept in the private network only.

Never published.
Never published.
Up to about 100 words. This appears on your card if you choose a public listing.
How should you be listed?
Partners

Built with partners

The Congress has been built with partners from Germany, Australia, the region and Pakistan’s own institutions. Each one made a specific part of the programme possible, and together they have given it reach no single organisation could.

2015

Hanns Seidel Foundation, Germany

Co-organiser, first Congress

The German political foundation, with an office in Islamabad, co-organised the first Congress with IPDS, including the public talk by Tawakkol Karman at the National Library Auditorium. Its Resident Representative, Kristof W. Duwaerts, opened the Congress by presenting Fatima Jinnah and Benazir Bhutto as role models for the cohort.

2015

Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Laureate 2011

Chief guest, first Congress

Chaired and inaugurated the first Congress on her first visit to Pakistan, mentored the media session, and signed the foundation stone of the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership.

2015

Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences Pakistan

Partner, first Congress

A consortium of Pakistani universities working for the social sciences, and a partner of the first Congress with IPDS and the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

2015

National Testing Service Pakistan

Partner, first Congress

Pakistan’s National Testing Service partnered with IPDS and the Hanns Seidel Foundation on the first Congress.

2017

Australian Government, Australian High Commission

Co-organiser, second Congress

Through its High Commission in Islamabad, the Australian Government co-organised the second Congress, which brought 25 young women from seven regions together with mentors from politics, media, civil society and development.

2017

The City School

Co-organiser, second Congress

The City School co-organised the second Congress with IPDS, bringing an education partner into the heart of the programme.

2017

Women’s Regional Network

Co-host

A network of women across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. WRN co-hosted the Congress and presents it through its Mentor Youth programme, which describes its aim to inspire and facilitate 30 emerging young women leaders from across Pakistan.

2017

Benazir Income Support Programme

Government partner, second Congress

Engaged the 2017 cohort as BISP Brand Ambassadors, opened its Beneficiary Committees to their projects, and received their four committee proposals at ministerial level.

2019

N-Peace Network

Supporter, Afghanistan and Pakistan Congress

The UNDP-supported N-Peace Network for women, peace and security in Asia supported the 2019 cross-border Congress. N-Peace also honoured the Congress’s founder with its 2017 Campaign for Action award.

Why it matters to IPDS

The flagship of a Centre, and part of a larger mission

Flagship of the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership

The Centre was born at the Congress. Tawakkol Karman and Farhat Asif signed its foundation stone at the first Congress in December 2015, and the Congress has remained the Centre’s flagship ever since. It connects directly to the Centre’s pillars:

Leadership Development

“Annual fellows programme drawing young women from all four provinces, including religious minorities, transgender women, and women with disabilities. Mentorship. Training. A network that stays active for life.” This pillar is the Congress.

Weave for Peace

Proposed by the Afghan and Pakistani participants of the 2019 Congress, and now a pillar of the Centre: a platform connecting women in displacement and refugee settings to markets through craft skills.

Research and Policy

Congress policy briefs and the alumni network give the Centre’s Women, Peace and Security research a direct line to young women across the region.

Global Women Insight

The Centre’s interview series continues the mentoring conversation, putting women leaders in conversation with their global counterparts.

Visit the Centre

Aligned with the IPDS mission

“The Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies is an autonomous, multidisciplinary, and nonpartisan Think-and-Do Tank based in Islamabad. We bridge academic research and practical application through specialized leadership training, flagship programs, and proactive advocacy to advance national, regional, and global diplomacy, peace, and security.”

IPDS works in four connected steps, each one feeding the next. The Congress sits in Training and touches every other step: its public sessions are dialogue, its policy briefs are advocacy, and its alumnae inform the Centre’s research.

ResearchPolicy-relevant research and live trackers.
DialogueTrack-II dialogues and high-level conferences.
TrainingIYDS, EWLC and certifications for the next generation.
AdvocacyBooks, journals and policy briefs.
Capacity-building, an IPDS value

“Through IYDS, EWLC and our certification programs, we invest directly in the next generation of diplomats and policy leaders.”

Leadership opportunities for young people in Pakistan

A route from first training to published work and a seat at the table

IPDS’s vision is to be a global leader in peace and diplomacy through rigorous research, inclusive dialogue and principled leadership. For young people in Pakistan, that means real opportunities: somewhere to train, to publish, to be heard and to lead. The Congress is one route among several, and young people move between them.

Training

International Young Diplomats School

Seven editions training young people in the practice of diplomacy.

Mentoring

Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress

Young women working with senior women leaders. You are here.

Publishing

Write for IPDS

An open platform for young researchers and practitioners to publish analysis.

Research

Non-Resident Research Fellowship

Four months with an IPDS centre for MPhil graduates and doctoral researchers.

Dialogue

Islamabad Diplomacy Forum

The Institute’s flagship forum, where emerging leaders meet diplomats and policymakers.

Founder

Dr Farhat Asif

Founder and President of the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies and founder of its Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership, Dr Farhat Asif created the Congress in 2015 and has led every edition. An award-winning public diplomat, she works at national and regional level to build partnerships and knowledge on women’s leadership in peace and security decision-making.

Her N-Peace Award recognised in particular her work on sensitive cross-border issues, the same thread that runs through the Afghanistan and Pakistan Congress.

  • N-Peace Award 2017, Campaign for ActionPresented by UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Regional Centre and the Institute for Inclusive Security, recognising her work on the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
  • Global Change Leaders Program, 2018Fellow, Coady International Institute, Canada.
  • International Women’s Forum Leadership Fellow, 2023–24The first Pakistani woman named an IWF Leadership Fellow, with executive education at Harvard Business School and INSEAD.
  • International Visitor Leadership Program, 2025Alumna of the US State Department programme.
  • Women’s Foreign Policy Group, 2026–27Mentor in the Mentor Match Program.
Gallery

Ten years in pictures

First Congress, Islamabad, December 2015
First Congress, Islamabad, December 2015
Certificates, Islamabad, January 2019
Certificates, Islamabad, January 2019
Public talk, National Library Auditorium, 2015
Public talk, National Library Auditorium, 2015
Politics session, 2015
Politics session, 2015
Participants, 2015
Participants, 2015
Afghanistan and Pakistan cohort, 2019
Afghanistan and Pakistan cohort, 2019
Second Congress, 2017
Second Congress, 2017
Cross-border exchange, 2019
Cross-border exchange, 2019
Media and civil society mentors, 2015
Media and civil society mentors, 2015
Opening session, 2019
Opening session, 2019
More photographs from every edition on the Congress’s page: facebook.com/EYWLC
The Fourth Congress

The Fourth Congress: first quarter of 2027

IPDS will convene the fourth Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress in Islamabad in the first quarter of 2027, building on the record of 2015, 2017 and 2019. Partnerships are being formed now, and exact dates will be announced on this page. We invite diplomatic missions, foundations, universities and international organisations to shape it with us.

Co-convene an edition

Embassies, foundations, universities and multilateral agencies can co-organise the Fourth Congress with IPDS, as the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the Australian Government and the N-Peace Network did for earlier editions.

Support a cohort or delegation

Sponsor the selection and participation of young women from a province, a community, or a partner country, including cross-border cohorts on the 2019 model.

Mentor

Senior women in politics, diplomacy, public service, media, business and civil society are invited to lead or join a mentoring session.

Research and publication

Co-publish the cohort’s policy briefs, or build a joint study on young women’s leadership and the Women, Peace and Security agenda in South Asia with the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership.

Get involved

Mentor, partner or sponsor the Fourth Congress

Tell us how you would like to contribute. Your message goes straight to the team at the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership, and we reply within five working days.

Senior women leaders who would like to mentor, institutions that would like to co-convene a session, and organisations that would like to support participants are all welcome.

Prefer email? Write to president@ipd.org.pk.

I would like to
Register your interest

Be part of the next cohort

The Fourth Congress takes place in the first quarter of 2027. The call for participants opens once dates are confirmed. Register your interest now and IPDS will contact you when it opens.

Register your interest Get IPDS updates

The button opens an email to info@ipd.org.pk with a short form to complete.

Students and early-career professionals

Passionate about advocacy, public service and change in their communities.

Young professionals

Seeking leadership roles in governance, policymaking, diplomacy and international organisations.

Community and civil society leaders

Already leading work locally and ready to take it further.

From every region

All provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, including women from minority communities and women with disabilities.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What is the Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress?

The Emerging Young Women Leaders Congress (EYWLC) is the flagship leadership programme of the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership at the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (IPDS) in Islamabad. It connects young women from across Pakistan, and from the region, with senior women leaders through mentoring workshops, policy briefs and a public Congress. Three Congresses have been held, in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Why does Pakistan need a leadership programme for young women?

Pakistan ranks 143rd of 145 economies in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2026, and women hold only 6.5% of senior official and manager roles, even though gender parity in education has reached a record 91.7%. Young women are educated and ready, but lack access to the people and networks that lead to leadership. The Congress provides that access.

Who can take part?

Young women at the start of their careers: university students, early-career professionals, and community and civil society leaders from every province of Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Each cohort includes women from religious minorities, transgender women and women with disabilities. The 2019 Congress also included young women from Afghanistan.

How does the mentoring work?

Over two days of closed workshops, participants work in sessions with senior women leaders grouped by field: politics, media, civil society, the civil service, education and business. They write short policy briefs and joint action plans, present their ideas at a public Congress, and carry that work back to their own communities.

When is the next Congress?

The Fourth Congress will be held in Islamabad in the first quarter of 2027. Exact dates will be announced on this page. You can register your interest now and IPDS will contact you when the call for participants opens.

How can an organisation partner with the Congress?

Embassies, foundations, universities, multilateral agencies and companies can co-convene an edition, support a cohort or delegation, provide mentors, or co-publish research with the Centre for Women, Peace and Leadership. Past partners include the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the Australian Government, the Women’s Regional Network, The City School and the N-Peace Network. Use the Get involved form on this page, or write to president@ipd.org.pk.

I took part in a past Congress. How do I join the alumni network?

Use the form in the Alumni section of this page. IPDS reviews every entry before it is published, and you can choose to be listed publicly or kept in the private network only.

Ten years of young women’s leadership, and the next chapter

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