Pakistan national press club elects woman leader for the first time

Nayyar Ali, a special correspondent and TV presenter with Samaa News, was elected to the post of general secretary of the National Press Club in Islamabad in March 2024, creating history as the first woman to be elected in a leadership position (president or general secretary) at the press club. She was re-elected in 2025 and will continue in the job for another year.

“Honoured to be elected as the first female secretary of any press club in the country,” Nayyar Ali said after her initial appointment.

The club represents 3,200 journalists across the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Pakistan is a conservative society and women often face barriers when it comes to taking on high profile roles in public life. The country ranks 145 out of 146 countries on the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report 2024.

Nayyar Ali’s candidacy is a testament to the courage of women journalists and the consistent advocacy of IMS partners to help lay the groundwork for cultural change in a media sector dominated by men.

IMS partner IRADA collaborated with Nayyar Ali to organise a national dialogue at the press club to commemorate the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists in 2023. At that time, Nayyar Ali was a finance secretary at the press club. The same year, IRADA also worked with her to organise a series of capacity-building workshops for journalists on information disorder and digital journalism.

IMS has contributed funds and advisory support to partners IRADA, Freedom Network and the Women Journalists Association to advocate for greater gender diversity, equity and inclusion in the leadership and membership structures of journalist unions and press clubs. IMS is not involved with the internal activities of the press club, but it does engage with it to support journalists’ safety and gender representation in media.