Dawn Images

Women are unstoppable, and the BBC 100 Women 2024 list proves just that.

The British publication’s list features 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world and “acknowledges the toll this year has taken on women by celebrating those who — through their resilience — are pushing for change, as the world changes around them.”

This year, two women from Pakistan were mentioned on the list — Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch and singer Hadiqa Kiani.

Here are some of the most remarkable women named in the list, and their contributions and acts of resilience.

Mahrang Baloch (Pakistan)

Mahrang Baloch is the face of peaceful protests against the enforced disappearances in Balochistan. According to the BBC, “in late 2023, Baloch led hundreds of women on a 1,600-kilometre march to the capital Islamabad to demand information on the whereabouts of their family members. She was arrested twice during the journey.”

Her own father was “allegedly taken by security service officers in 2009 and found dead two years later with signs of torture.”

The doctor has become a prominent activist, under the banner of her human rights group Baloch Yakjehti Committee.

Hadiqa Kiani (Pakistan)

An iconic singer, Hadiqa Kiani was named on the list for her contributions to humanitarian causes, particularly for her response to the 2022 floods in Pakistan.

Kiani launched Vaseela-e-Raah, which is dedicated to aiding victims in the Balochistan and South Punjab regions.

“She urged the public to assist displaced families and last year, the project announced it had built 370 homes and other facilities in the affected areas.”

Plestia Alaqad (Palestine)

Twenty-two-year-old Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad “had recently graduated from university when the war in Gaza began. In the earliest days of the war, she posted a video of herself in her apartment during intense Israeli airstrikes.

“It went viral, and she amassed four million followers on Instagram with subsequent Gaza updates, poems and diary entries. Her memoir based on these reports, Eyes of Gaza, will be published soon.”

Alaqad evacuated Gaza in November 2023 and relocated to Lebanon’s capital of Beirut, where she received the Shireen Abu Akleh Scholarship at the American University of Beirut.

Yasmeen Mjalli (Palestine)

Fashion designer Yasmeen Mjalli grew up in the American South, and then relocated to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, where she launched her brand Nöl Collective in 2020.

Mjalli uses her creations to stories about Palestinians and her garments are inspired by Palestinian life and traditions.

“Her fashion label works with family-run sewing workshops, local spice shops that provide natural dye agents, and women’s co-operatives to produce garments collectively. The tailors, weavers, embroiderers and carvers use traditional techniques, paying homage to the Palestinian craft of creating fabrics.”

Shireen Abed (Palestine)

Palestine-based paediatrician Shireen Abed continued to care for babies in displacement camps even after she herself was displaced when her flat was bombed during Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in 2023.

“Drawing on years of experience in neonatal units at Gaza’s main hospitals — most recently as director of the maternity centre in Al-Shifa Medical Complex — she established emergency protocols to enable medics to provide life-saving treatments with very limited resources, and trained other doctors.”

Conditions in Gaza forced her to leave the area with her two daughters, however, Abed continues to remotely assist doctors on-ground.

Enas Al-Ghoul (Palestine)

When water became a scarce resource in Gaza because of Israel’s relentless assault, Palestinian agricultural engineer Enas Al-Ghoul was on the frontlines of devising a solution.

She used recycled materials such as wood, glass and tarpaulins to create a solar-powered desalination device which turned seawater into drinkable water.

“The device has since become a lifeline for many living in tents in the Khan Younis area in the south of the Gaza Strip, as water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli military action since October 2023.

“Determined to use her skills to help displaced Palestinians, Al-Ghoul has also created a solar-powered cooker and learnt to recycle materials to create items such as mattresses and bags.”

Hamida Aman (Afghanistan)

Media entrepreneur Hamida Aman launched the Begum Academy, an online space with free multimedia courses for students who can’t attend school, after the Taliban regime in Afghanistan barred girls from receiving an education.

“In the last year, the educational platform has provided more than 8,500 videos in Dari and Pashto, covering school curricula for grades seven to 12. In March, Aman launched Begum TV, an educational channel broadcasting Begum Academy courses via satellite.”

Christina Assi (Lebanon)

In October 2023, Lebanese photojournalist Christina Assi was severely injured in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon while reporting. “The blast killed fellow journalist Issam Abdallah, five other colleagues were wounded and Assi would later have a leg amputated.”

The traumatic experience led to Assi campaigning for journalists’ safety, and she dedicated her participation in the 2024 Olympic torch relay in Paris to all the journalists who have died in the line of duty.

Hinda Abdi Mohamoud (Somalia)

Somalian journalist Hinda Abdi Mahamoud is the chief editor of Bilan, the country’s first and only all-women media team.

“The team was formed to combat the high rates of sexism and harassment which Somali women face in the workplace — challenges recognised in a recent UN report.

“Bilan aims to shine a light on social issues in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, covering stories such as Somalis living in hiding with HIV, abused orphans, and people with albinism shunned by their communities.”

Shahrnush Parsipur (Iran/US)

Prominent Iranian novelist Shahrnush Parsipur has written about taboo issues in her work, such as women’s sexual oppression and rebellion in a patriarchal society.

She resigned from her position as a writer and producer on the Iranian National Television and Radio following the execution of two poet activists before the revolution of 1979. This led to her first imprisonment.

“Since the revolution, her work has been banned extensively in Iran and Parsipur was imprisoned again for openly referring to issues around virginity in her novel Women Without Men. This was later adapted into a feature film outside Iran.

“Parsipur has recounted her experience of incarceration in her writing, and has lived in exile in the US since 1994.”

Pooja Sharma (India)

Pooja Sharma, a funerary rites performer from India, has performed the last rites for unclaimed dead bodies in Delhi.

Her own brother was killed and nobody helped with his funeral, causing Sharma to perform his last rites. Throughout her journey, she faced resistance from Hindu priests because performers of funerary rites are typically men in the religion.

“Despite the backlash, she has performed funerary rites for more than 4,000 people from different faiths and religions, sharing her work on social media and championing the cause to give everyone the dignity they deserve in death.”

Zakia Khudadadi (Afghanistan)

Afghan athlete Zakia Khudadadi made history at the 2024 Paris Paralympics after winning the first ever medal for the refugee team.

“The athlete, who was born without one forearm, began practising taekwondo secretly at the age of 11 in a hidden gym in her hometown of Herat, in western Afghanistan. She was initially denied the opportunity to compete at her first Paralympics in Tokyo following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.”

However, the International Paralympic Committee intervened and Khudadadi was evacuated from Afghanistan and became the first Afghan woman to participate in an international sporting event following the Taliban takeover.

Firda Marsya Kurnia (Indonesia)

Firda Marsya Kurnia is the lead vocalist and guitarist in the Indonesia-based all-women, hijab-wearing heavy metal band Voice of Baceprot.

“Singing in English and Sundanese, one of the most widely spoken languages in Indonesia, the trio’s lyrics express their frustrations with patriarchy.

“There has been pushback from more conservative Muslims, who did not respond well when the band ventured into heavy metal. But the band have come a long way since they started 10 years ago at their village school in Garut, West Java. This year they performed at Glastonbury, the first Indonesian band in the music festival’s 54-year history.”

Vinesh Phogat (India)

Vinesh Phogat, a three-time Olympian and one of India’s most decorated wrestlers and critic of sexist attitudes towards women in sports, was disqualified at the Paris Games after failing the weigh-in.

She later retired from sports and joined politics.

“Outspoken about gender stereotypes, Phogat was the face of a months-long protest by Indian wrestlers against their federation chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexually harassing female athletes — a charge he denied.

“The protest made headlines when police detained Phogat and others during a demonstration.”

Nadia Murad (Iraq)

A leading Iraqi activist for survivors of sexual violence, human rights activist Nadia Murad endured the Yazidi genocide in Iraq in 2014 and in 2018 received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war.

She was captured by “militants, forced into slavery, and subjected to rape and abuse. Murad escaped after three months, and has recounted her ordeal to the world to raise awareness about conflict-related sexual violence.

“She partnered with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to hold the Islamic State accountable and launched Nadia’s Initiative to help rebuild communities and advocate for reparations for survivors.”

Gisele Pelicot (France)

A global symbol of resilience, Gisele Pelicot waived the right to anonymity and permitted her story to reach the world after her former husband admitted to drugging and raping her while they were married, and recruiting other men to rape her as well.

“By law, Pelicot was entitled to anonymity, but she instead asked for the trial to be open and for the videos to be shown, in a bid to shift the ‘shame’ back on to the accused. Some of the 50 other men involved in the case have admitted rape, but the majority say they only took part in sexual acts.

“While the trial reaches its final stage, women across the world have been inspired by the French grandmother, who hopes her case will change French law and attitudes around rape and consent.”

Fawzia al-Otaibi (Saudi Arabia/UK)

Women’s rights campaigner Fawzia al-Otaibi has campaigned for the end of the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia and recently taken her campaign to social media.

“But after being summoned by the authorities for questioning, she decided to flee the country. Her sister Manahel al-Otaibi — also a women’s rights campaigner — was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison earlier this year, after being convicted of charges related to her clothing choices and the views she had expressed online, according to human rights groups. Her older sister, Maryam, has also been banned from travelling.”

Al-Otaibi has campaigned relentlessly for her sister’s release. A recent crackdown on dissent has seen many imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for social media posts.