Unilever Executive Shazia Syed Named In Forbes’ List Of 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen In Middle East
New Age Islam News
Bureau
05 March 2024
·
Unilever
Executive Shazia Syed Named In Forbes’ List Of 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen
In Middle East
·
Nimra
Khan to Highlight ‘Struggles of Wearing A Hijab’ in Umm-e-Ayesha a Pakistani
Show
·
Rights
Activists in Karachi Demand Action Against ‘Anti-Women’ Elements
·
US
Recognizing ‘International Women of Courage’
·
Ayesha
Curry Reacts to Her 4th Pregnancy Being Called ‘Geriatric’
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/unilever-shazia-forbes-middle-east/d/131855
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Unilever
executive Shazia Syed named in Forbes’ list of 100 most powerful businesswomen
in Middle East
Shazia
Syed, Photo via Forbes
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March 4, 2024
Shazia
Syed, the former CEO of Unilever Pakistan, has been named in a Forbes list
again — this time for the 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen 2024.
She,
who is currently the general manager for Unilever’s operations in North Africa,
Iraq, Levant, and Arabia, had previously been recognised as one of the top
executives in the Middle East in 2023.
Emerging
from Abbottabad, Syed embarked on her professional journey as a Management
Trainee at Unilever Pakistan, swiftly climbing the corporate ladder and
slipping into leadership roles across Pakistan and Unilever’s global spectrum
in Marketing, Sales, and General Management.
From
leading Unilever’s Personal Care in Vietnam to steering as CEO in Sri Lanka and
later ascending as the global Executive Vice President for Unilever’s Beverage
empire, Syed’s trajectory is a tale of unparalleled success.
She
has also advocated for women’s empowerment and advancement in the dynamic world
of business — both in Pakistan and beyond.
In a
post on LinkedIn, Syed said she was “delighted to be recognised” by Forbes and
share the space with “99 other brilliant thought leaders and change-makers of
the region.”
“To
me, personally, it’s a wonderful reminder of boldly championing my values in my
personal and professional leadership journey,” she said.
“I am
humbled and proud to represent Unilever and deeply grateful to every person in
the organization who has contributed to my journey of enabling change both
internally and externally.”
Source:
dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1819079/unilever-executive-shazia-syed-named-in-forbes-list-of-100-most-powerful-businesswomen-in-middle-east
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Nimra
Khan to Highlight ‘Struggles of Wearing A Hijab’ in Umm-e-Ayesha a Pakistani
Show
Nimra
Khan, Pakistan actress
----
04
Mar, 2024
Irfan
Ul Haq
Actor
Nimra Khan is set to star as the hijab-wearing lead in Umm-e-Ayesha, a new Geo
Entertainment show directed by Saleem Ghanchi and produced by Abdullah Kadwani
and Asad Qureshi.
In an
exclusive comment to Images, Khan detailed that the show — which will be
released in Ramazan — focuses on the struggles of a woman who wears the hijab,
including issues such as “losing out on jobs because of her attire” and facing
discrimination during the rishta process.
“Umm-e-Ayesha
is about a girl who grew up in a mediocre [middle-class] family and was
repeatedly told by her mother to cover her head [with a dupatta]. However, as
she reads more about Islam she chooses to do the hijab because she believes it
is better than covering oneself with a dupatta,” Khan said, adding that her
character promised herself to never go before a “namehram” [men who are not
blood relatives] without her hijab.
She
said that the lower middle-class family struggles as they cannot afford a car,
prompting Ayesha to buy a scooter, and subsequently try to get a job so she can
acquire her PhD.
“Even
though people like her CV, she gets rejected from jobs because of her attire.
Employers ask her to change her get-up but she refuses to,” Khan revealed to
Images, adding that her character also refused to remove her hijab for marriage
prospects.
She
highlighted that the show is “all about faith, which never wavers through
life’s trials and tribulations”.
When
asked by Images why the showrunners did not hire an actor who was actually a
hijabi, Khan questioned if there were any hijabi actors in the Pakistani drama
industry at all.
“If a
girl does the hijab, why would she act in TV dramas? For the drama about
Qandeel Baloch, we didn’t get her to star in it. We take inspiration and convey
it in our own way because we’re actors and we need to execute it in a better
way,” she said, brushing off the question as “irrelevant”.
Commenting
on the overall experience, Khan maintained that it was beyond her expectations
as the cast was supportive, and there were “positive vibes”. She stated that it
was a “challenging character” because she “had to wear a hijab and drive a
scooty”, however, it sent a “good message” overall.
The
Ehraam-e-Junoon actor maintained that it was also challenging because the
“Islamic history” had to be portrayed and talked about “exactly and without
errors”. She said, however, that there could be mistakes as those involved in
the show were “only human”.
Khan
hoped she was “convincing” in her role and that audiences would like the
upcoming show.
The
show also stars Omer Shahzad, Mehmood Akhtar, Nida Mumtaz, Tara Mahmood, Rehma
Zaman, Eman, Asim Mehmood, Diya Rahman, Mohsin Gillani, Beena Chaudhry and
Ayesha Rajpootand, and is written by Hina Huma Nafees.
Source:
dawn.com
https://images.dawn.com/news/1192301/nimra-khan-to-highlight-struggles-of-wearing-a-hijab-in-umm-e-ayesha
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Rights
activists in Karachi demand action against ‘anti-women’ elements
March
5, 2024
KARACHI:
A ‘Working Women’s Rally’ has been planned on March 8 to observe International
Women’s Day, rights activists announced on Monday.
Speaking
at a press conference here at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), they condemned
various recent disturbing and shameful incidents against women, including the
one in Lahore where a woman was attacked by a mob for wearing a dress with
Arabic script written on it.
They
demanded that the anti-women and extremist elements involved in those incidents
be immediately arrested.
They
also strongly condemned the brutal murder of well-known intellectual and
teacher Hidayat Lohar and demanded arrest and punishment of the people involved
in the murder.
Announce
rally on Friday to mark International Women’s Day
About
the rally, they said that it would begin from the KPC Chowk and culminate at
the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi.
According
to the details, prominent women leaders belonging to resistance movements will
speak on the occasion, sing revolutionary songs and present tableaux based on
women’s rights and their struggles. The rally will also be attended by
thousands of workers, labourers, fishermen, health workers, transgender
persons, journalists, teachers as well as women fighting against enforced
disappearances and tragic killings.
Speaking
at a press conference at the KPC, Zehra Khan of the Home Based Women Workers
Federation said: “On International Women’s Day, the focus and main slogan of
our struggle is ‘Women’s Resistance: For Democratic Freedom, Economic Autonomy
and Social Security’.
“We,
the working women, the resistant women, who are half of the population, will
reaffirm on this day that our relentless struggle will continue against the
shrinking democratic freedoms, increasing economic helplessness and imposed
social decline. The resistant role of women in the ongoing struggle is emerging
as a hope for society.”
Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt told the press
conference that the “working and resisting woman knows that her struggle will
be successful only when she strengthens her connection with the political
process and the struggle for the rights of her class, the oppressed and the
subjugated people, and the most important and first principle of this is
resistance”.
Others
who also spoke included transgender activist Kami Sid, Subhagi Bheel of the
Sindh Agriculture General Workers Union, Habibuddin Junadi of the People’s
Labour Bureau, Saeed Baloch of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and Sahrish
Mehmood of the Nach Natak Mandli.
Source:
dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1819178/rights-activists-in-karachi-demand-action-against-anti-women-elements
---
US
Recognizing ‘International Women of Courage’
March
04, 2024
The
U.S. State Department presented its annual International Women of Courage
Awards during a ceremony Monday at the White House.
U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and first lady Jill Biden hosted the event,
with the awards this year going to women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Myanmar, Cuba, Ecuador, Gambia, Iran, Japan, Morocco,
Nicaragua and Uganda.
“For
these women and so many activists like them around the world, courage is a
deliberate and daily choice,” Blinken said during remarks at the ceremony.
“Women and girls demonstrate similar bravery in places that are wracked by
conflict and insecurity even as they are disproportionately harmed by that
violence.”
The
awards launched in 2007 and are presented to women “who have demonstrated
exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice,
human rights, gender equity and equality, and the empowerment of women and
girls,” according to the State Department.
Among
those honored this year are nine women from Nicaragua who were part of a group
of political prisoners released there last year. The State Department said the
activists “continue to fight for democracy and human rights under a repressive
regime.”
Fawzia
Karim Firoze of Bangladesh is being honored for her work as a Supreme Court
advocate who has fought for the rights of marginalized groups.
Ajna
Jusić from Bosnia and Herzegovina was selected in honor of her work on behalf
of children born of rape during war.
From
Cuba, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello is being recognized for leading human rights
and religious freedom movements in her country.
Agather
Atuhaire is being honored for work to promote human rights and the rule of law
in Uganda
Source:
voanews.com
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-recognizing-international-women-of-courage-/7512577.html
---
Ayesha
Curry reacts to her 4th pregnancy being called ‘geriatric’
Katie
Kindelan
March
5, 2024
Ayesha
Curry is sparking a conversation about how people talk about pregnancy as women
age.
The
actress and author announced earlier this month that she and her husband,
Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, are expecting their fourth child.
Ayesha
Curry, 34, shared the couple's pregnancy news in the cover story for her
website, Sweet July, where she wrote about what it's like to be pregnant in her
mid-30s versus her 20s.
"What's
been really interesting has been my doctor's appointments," she wrote.
"I'm in my 30s, and so there's all this paperwork referring to the
experience as a 'geriatric pregnancy' and all the concerns that come along with
that."
Ayesha
Curry gave birth to her eldest child, a daughter named Riley, nearly 12 years
ago, at the age of 22.
She
was in her mid-20s when she gave birth to the couple's second daughter Ryan
three years later, in 2015, and then in her late 20s when she gave birth to
their son Canon in 2018.
The
soon-to-be mom-of-four said that as more women make decisions to have children
later in life, she would like to see the "narrative" shifted so women
are not told they are "old."
"I
think there's something that needs to be more nuanced when it comes to women,
their age, and conversations around having children," Ayesha Curry wrote.
"Many women in their 30s and 40s are going through this for the first
time, and being told you're 'old' feels alarming and wild. I think the
narrative needs to be shifted a little bit."
What
it means to have a 'geriatric pregnancy'
Ayesha
Curry is correct in that giving birth later in life is a growing reality in the
United States. In 2022, the birth rate for women ages 35 to 49 increased, while
the birth rate for women in their early 20s and early 30s decreased, compared
to the previous year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Later
this month, on March 23, Ayesha Curry will turn 35, the age that the medical
world considers pregnant women to be of "advanced maternal age."
"Advanced
maternal age" is the accepted term in the medical community, versus the
more colloquial term of "geriatric pregnancy," according to the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The
age of 35 was chosen decades ago by researchers trying to decide which pregnant
women should get an amniocentesis, a prenatal test in which a small amount of
amniotic fluid is removed from the sac surrounding the fetus for testing, Dr.
Shilpi Mehta-Lee, a maternal fetal medical specialist at NYU Langone Medical
Center, told ABC News previously.
At
the age of 35, women were determined to have a greater risk of having a baby
with Down syndrome than the risk of pregnancy loss from amniocentesis.
"It
is a bit of an arbitrary cutoff, but at the same time we do understand that
aging does affect pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes," Mehta-Lee told ABC
News. "And there are more risks even after you get over the age of
40."
Decades
later, the terms geriatric, advanced age and elderly are still attached women
to 35 and above who are pregnant, but the science has advanced to the point
where that exact age cutoff may seem arbitrary.
The
ACOG now classifies pregnant people into categories of five-year increments --
35-39 years, 40-44 years, 45-49 years, and 50 years and older -- to denote that
risks associated with pregnancy increase as women age, versus all women 35 and
older facing the same level of risks.
Women
above age 40 are considered to be of very advanced maternal age, and women
above age 45 are considered extremely advanced maternal age.
Women
who are pregnant in their mid-30s and beyond face maternal risks including
gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, as well as
perinatal risks including miscarriage, genetic abnormalities, fetal growth
issues, preterm birth and stillbirth, research shows.
With
the increased risks comes more monitoring during pregnancy for women in their
mid-30s and above. Typically, women of advanced maternal age are screened for
chromosomal abnormalities and have more ultrasounds throughout their pregnancy
and more frequent doctor's visits and testing as their due date approaches, as
compared to younger women.
"When
someone is over 35, her doctor is going to look for things a little bit more,
just to make sure things are going well," Mehta-Lee said. "It offers
an opportunity for the doctor to look one more time, to think about it one more
time, and that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Source:
abcnews.go.com
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/ayesha-curry-narrative-changed-geriatric-pregnancy/story?id=107776218
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/unilever-shazia-forbes-middle-east/d/131855