Profile of the Chairperson
Ms. Seema Khan is a prominent advocate of the rights of Nepali Muslim women at the national and international level. She founded the Nepal Muslim Women’s Welfare Society (NMWWS) in 2006 as its Chairperson. NMWWS is the only national-level organization working to uplift the situation of marginalized Nepali Muslim women. Ms. Khan initiated the formation of Women’s Rights Protection Groups (MWRPGs) to facilitate Muslim women’s organizing community-level collective actions to restore their rights and tackle human rights violations and human trafficking issues. Ms. Khan is working as the present president of the National Inter-Religious Network in Nepal (NIRN), addressing the issue of violence against women caused by socio-cultural-religious harmful practices.
Ms. Khan is a Central Committee Member for the UPR Review DRCFC Durban Review Conference Follow Up Committee, a loose network established after the Durban Declaration. Ms. Khan strongly lobbies for equitable participation in public decision-making bodies, government authorities, community development initiatives, and political bodies. She provides training to the national authorizes/implementers as well as to the grass-root level organizations on the issues related to peace and democracy, violence against women, and basic women’s and child rights.
Ms. Khan has participated as a participant and guest speaker in different international and national trainings, workshops, and seminars, including Women’s Empowerment Training in the Philippines organized by the International Rice Research Centre (IRRI) and participated as co-panelist (participation of minority women in bureaucracy and political systems) in the South Asian Conference for Minorities organized in Thailand by The Asia Foundation in January 2016. Ms. Khan, a prominent activist, regularly writes articles for national newspapers and participates in radio debates at the local, national, and international levels.