Hassina Sayed, Farkhunda Zahra Naderi and Fahim Hashimy have been recognised as World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2016 members from Afghanistan.
World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation which selects the most enterprising, innovative, socially minded, and exceptional leaders under the age of 40, each year.
Miss Naderi has been selected among the 2016 class of Young Global Leaders for her role as one of the youngest elected members of the Afghan parliament and well regarded social activist.
The foundation recognized her for advancing women’s rights in Afghanistan and participation in politics.
The two other young Afghan entrepreneurs included in the list are Fahim Hashimy, the Chief Executive Officer of Hashimy Group, and Hassina Syed, the owner of Syed Group.
Hashimy has been recognized as a successful businessman despite challenges he faced in an extremely volatile environment in Afghanistan where has has risen from a boy who was beaten by the Taliban.
He is running a powerful conglomerate of Afghan businesses, including a TV channel, an airline, and a supplier of fuel and boots to the Afghan National Army.
Meanwhile, Hassina has been recognized for her role in as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Afghanistan who found the Afghan National Women’s Organization.
“She is the only female member of the 3,000-strong Afghan Chamber of Commerce and she runs her business despite threats made against her and time spent in a crowded Kabul jail for failing to pay protection money to the police,” according to a brief introduction of Hassina listed by World Economic Forum among the 11 Young Global Leaders.
The Geneva-based foundation introduced the 2016 class of the Young Global Leaders in a release on Wednesday, saying “As global industry, government and civil society evolve to confront a world defined by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, these new members of the Young Global Leaders (YGL) include scientists opening up their data to the world, a member of parliament fighting for gender equality in Afghanistan, an entrepreneur who is redefining nuclear energy production with circular economy models, pioneers from the sharing economy, and an actor who gives a damn and puts his money behind it.”
Women represent a majority in this year’s class, and with over half the intake coming from emerging economies, the world’s future leadership is becoming more broad-based in terms of both gender and geography. Alongside 28 selected from North America and 26 from Europe, the YGL class of 2016 includes 15 YGLs from East Asia, 10 from South Asia, 10 from Greater China, 10 from Sub-Saharan Africa, 12 from the Middle East and North Africa, eight from Latin America, and four from Eurasia.
