Mosharraf Zaidi is a Pakistani writer who writes a weekly column for ''The News International''. Previously, he served as a Policy Advisor to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

between 2011 and 2013 under Hina Rabbani Khar, the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan.Profile of Mosharraf Zaidi on World Economic Forum website
Retrieved 21 May 2019

Early life and education

Zaidi was born in

Hyderabad, Sindh Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

in an Urdu-speaking Muhajir family. He completed his B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Economics from the

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences, also known by its acronym LUMS, is a Private university, private research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1985, it is ranked as one of the most prestigious modern Li ...

, Pakistan in 1997. He then went to

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

in 1999 and completed his Master's degree in Public Administration (MPA) in 2001.

Career

Zaidi's work and analysis covers areas such as education, public policy, emergency relief and reconstruction, telecommunications, technology, trade, and public safety improvement in major cities of Pakistan. From 2005 to 2008 he worked as a Governance Adviser for the

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

, and was the team leader for the 2008 UN evaluation program in Afghanistan.Pakistan: The Lost Generation (Profile and Interview of Mosharraf Zaidi)
Public Broadcasting Service (USA) (pbs.org) website, Published November 2009, Retrieved 21 May 2019 He served as the principal Policy Advisor at Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2013, where he helped establish the Public Diplomacy division in 2012. From 2013 to August 2018, he led the Alif Ailaan campaign in Pakistan. The campaign was funded by the

and worked towards addressing the education crisis in Pakistan. In 2014, he was recognized as a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

for leading a global campaign aimed towards improving the quality of education for children in Pakistan. He has written columns for a number of different newspapers in Pakistan, the United States and the Middle East. He is also widely known for being a vocal critic of the Pakistani government's policies on educational reform and frequently makes recommendations, as a TV and newspaper journalist, to improve public safety in the major cities of Pakistan.

References

Living people Pakistani columnists Pakistani male journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Lahore University of Management Sciences alumni Baruch College alumni {{Pakistan-journalist-stub