Fatima Shokat

Pakistani women's rights activist establishing schools to combat child marriage and illiteracy

Fatima Shokat is a trailblazing educator from Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where she established the Khushhal Girls School Network. Starting with a single classroom in 2018, her initiative now operates 28 schools providing education to over 3,000 girls in regions where 70% of girls marry before 18. Her "Education Instead of Dowry" program partners with local leaders to convince families to keep girls in school instead of arranging early marriages.

In 2021, she pioneered the country's first mobile libraries traveling to remote villages, distributing 5,000+ books annually. Her 2023 documentary "Pens Over Pistols" (produced with UNICEF) highlights girls' education during Taliban resurgence. She's developed a unique mentorship model pairing students with female professionals in STEM fields through video calls.

Shokat's advocacy led to provincial policy changes: in 2022, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa passed laws mandating girls' education through 10th grade. Her work has reduced local child marriage rates by 40%, earning her the UN Sustainable Development Goals Award in 2023. She currently trains teachers in trauma-sensitive pedagogy to support students affected by conflict zones.