Despite her visual impairment that was present since birth, she started working at the Milestone Society for Special Persons, an NGO based in Lahore. With them, she felt more encouraged to work for the welfare of persons with disabilities. After that, she opened her own NGO by the name of Safia Foundation, named after her mother. They work to provide accessories like wheelchairs and canes free of cost in the region. After the catastrophic earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir in 2007, she worked to support the many people left disabled and without help, working under the Japan Social Development Welfare Fund (JSDF), affiliated with the World Bank. In 2016, she became the first Pakistani woman with a visual impairment to complete the prestigious Duskin Leadership Training in Japan. She has worked with Sialkot’s Social Welfare Department to provide mobility aid to many people. She has shared that she intends to encourage the government to do a countrywide survey on disabled persons in Pakistan due to the lack of data, which makes it difficult to take new initiatives.

key achievements

• She is the first Pakistani visually impaired woman to have completed the year-long Duskin Leadership Training programme in Japan, offered to her by the Japanese government for the betterment of disabled people.
• Organized an event with the Sialkot social welfare department to mark the International Day for Persons with disabilities in December 2022.
• Frequently featured in media as a “symbol of courage,” demonstrating how disability can be reframed as strength.

Areas of focus

• Provision of mobility devices and assistive aids
• Advocacy for inclusive education and data-driven policy
• Public awareness and attitudinalchange through workshops
• Leadership development via international training and peer networks