Ms. Farida Shaheed, former Special Rapporteur (2009-2015)

Ms. Farida Shaheed (Pakistan) took up her functions as Independent Expert in the field of cultural rights in 2009 and continued as a Special Rapporteur on the same issue, following Human Rights Council Resolution 19/6 of 2012.

Ms. Shaheed is a Pakistani sociologist. She works as the Executive Director of Shirkat Gah-Women’s Resource Centre in Pakistan.

Recipient of several national and international human rights awards, Farida Shaheed has worked for more than 25 years promoting and protecting cultural rights by fostering policies and projects designed in culturally sensitive ways to support the rights of marginalized sectors, including women, peasants, and religious and ethnic minorities.

An experienced participant in negotiations at international, regional and national levels, Ms. Shaheed has brought her distinctive perspective on the integration of culture and rights to her work as an independent expert/consultant to numerous United Nations and development agencies as well as to the government of Pakistan since 1980.