Syeda Abida Hussain

Syeda Abida Hussain entered politics from a landowning family in Jhang, Punjab. Her upbringing included schooling in Switzerland, but her political career developed through the institutions and constituencies of rural Pakistan. She entered the provincial assembly in 1972 and the National Assembly in 1985, and became the first woman to chair Jhang's district council. Agriculture and horse and cattle breeding remained part of her working life. ^{2, 1}

Appointed ambassador to the United States in 1991, she was the first woman to hold that post for Pakistan. Nuclear policy dominated the difficult relationship. In December she called for an American sponsored regional nonproliferation conference. Addressing George Washington University in February 1992, she defended Pakistan's position that it would discuss disarmament with India but would not dismantle its capability unilaterally. ^{2, 3}

Hussain returned to ministerial work in Pakistan, holding portfolios that included education, science and technology, food and agriculture, population welfare, and environment and urban affairs during the 1990s. ¹

In Power Failure: The Political Odyssey of a Pakistani Woman, she drew on personal notes and diaries to recount that career. Published in 2015, the memoir considers the opportunities her family's position gave her, the obstacles facing women in politics, the erosion of public institutions, and the growth of militant movements. ^{1, 2}