Australia Awards South and West Asia

The campaign includes a dedicated website, #MyInspiration, highlighting and profiling the twenty-four members of the Australia Awards Women in Leadership Network in Pakistan. Launched as a part of the Network’s Mentorship Development Program, the campaign highlights the Australia Awards alumnae’s professional profiles, careers, strengths, interests and unique personal qualities, including who inspires them – while at the same time, encourages networking, linkages and the promotion of the Australia Awards program to their peers.

The campaign also includes social media messaging from the women themselves, using the hashtag #MyInspiration and a link to the website, to promote and bring attention to the profiles of the women within and beyond their networks. The profiles within the website also tie to LinkedIn profiles of the women to establish a real opportunity for online networking.

The #MyInspiration website as part of a wider campaign for the Australia Awards Women in Leadership Network

Earlier this week, the Ambassador for Women and Girls, Dr Sharman Stone, met some of these extraordinary Pakistani women. Addressing a meeting of the Australia Awards Women in Leadership Network, Dr Stone urged women to become agents of change by stepping into leadership positions in their communities.

In recent years, more than 1,000 Pakistani women have received Australia Awards – prestigious international scholarships, fellowships and short courses funded by the Australian Government.

The Australia Awards Women in Leadership Network is a wider initiative across Australia Awards activity in South and West Asia. It provides the opportunity for Australia Awards alumnae to connect across the region and support one another with advice and practical suggestions for overcoming the challenges and barriers they may face. It also helps to promote Australia Awards to other women and provides support and advice to prospective Scholarship or Short Course applicants. The initiative strives to provide professional leadership to build and broaden capacity and capability within the Australia Awards alumnae communities in South and West Asia to achieve long-term sustainable development.

Australia Awards launched the Women in Leadership Network for South and West Asia in 2015 and since then country-specific chapters have opened up in each of the program’s countries.