Focusing on developing synergies for peace, development, and dialogue

Farhat Asif is an award-winning public diplomat by experience, human rights and peace activist by choice, researcher, and writer by profession with nearly 14 years of work experience in establishing and leading institutions focusing on developing synergies for peace, development, and dialogue.

With well-knitted diplomatic engagements in Pakistan and across the globe,

Farhat has pioneered the public diplomacy initiatives in Pakistan through the promotion of linkages at political, economic, trade, cultural, education, and business levels by building connections amongst the communities from across the globe.

 As she lived her entire life in the conflict region of Kashmir, this has affected her work and influenced her to establish the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies(IPDS) which is an Advocacy, Research and Public Diplomacy institution pioneering the civilian-led peace and dialogue amongst communities and policy led institutions. IPDS aims to be Pakistan’s leading higher education institution to provide accredited courses on diplomacy, gender equality, peace and development studies.

IPDS is Pakistan’s first Think and Do-Tank. Prof. Johan Galtung-Father of Peace Studies laid the foundation stone of IPDS. Farhat is projecting Pakistan’s peaceful image through IPDS’s premier opinion-based publication The Diplomatic Insight (TDI)-publishing since 2008 with the thematic aim of Peace Through Informed Dialogue.

At the IPDS, Farhat has established the “Pakistan-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Friendship Forum”, “Centre for Belt and Road Initiative and China Studies”, “Centre for Central Asia and Eurasian Studies” and “Centre for Women Peace and Leadership”. Because of her leadership and vision at IPDS, the institution has signed several important agreements of cooperation at the state level with regional research organizations and Universities.

Farhat MSc and MPhil from Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad and is Global Change Leaders Fellow from Coady International Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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