Rabiya Javeri Agha

Rabiya Javeri Agha (born Rabiya Adila Javeri on December 2, 1963) is a Grade 21 Officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service. One of the senior most women in the civil service, she joined the Government of Pakistan in 1985. She was instrumental in reorganising the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan from 2013-2017 in her time as Secretary TDAP. Rabiya is currently posted as Federal Secretary for the Ministry of Human Rights.

Early life

Rabiya is the daughter of well known jeweller Hasan Javeri of Jamnagar State and Ayesha Rafique Javeri (Family of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Allahbad). She is also the sister of well known photographer Tapu Javeri and artist Zehra Laila Javeri. Her education was at Convent of Jesus and Mary and Karachi Grammar School. She Graduated in Politics and Literature from Mount Holyoke College. she is married to senior civil servant Agha Jan Akhtar, Chairman Port Qasim.

Career

Before joining the bureaucracy, Rabiya Javeri Agha worked as a journalist for the Dawn newspaper. She has written over 300 articles on social, political and cultural issues. She has also authored and published research papers on Sufism and on the Afghan political and refugee crisis.

When posted as secretary for the Women's Development Department (WDD) of Sindh, Pakistan she launched the legal aid committee (LAC) for women in prison. She also worked hard for the establishment of shelter homes across Sindh. She founded the women's parliamentary caucus with the help of deputy speaker Sindh Assembly, Shehla Raza, and also worked on the bill regarding domestic violence and harassment in the work place for women. Agha also reactivated the media cell of WDD and enhanced the budget of the department from Rs. 172 mn to Rs.302.9 mn. She holds the credit for vocational training of 1200 girls in entrepreneurship, beautician and office management courses through BBSYDP programme.

Her duties with the Trade Authority included marketing Pakistan's potential as a trade and cultural partner. She traveled throughout Pakistan and Europe to promote goods, like textiles and fashion, as well as the resources Pakistan has available. During her tenure as Secretary TDAP, Agha was awarded a gold model from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, at the FPCCI awards in Lahore, Pakistan. Agha was also recognized as one of Pond's Miracle Women for the year 2015, in recognition for her branding and marketing of Pakistan abroad. In recognition of her services to Pakistan, Rabiya was accorded the title of "Pride of Pakistan' by the Daily Times, a leading newspaper of Pakistan

As Federal Secretary for Human Rights, Rabiya presented the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Bill, 2016 which was approved by the Standing Committee of the Cabinet for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC). The bill was the brainchild of the then Minister for Human Right Barrister Zafarullah Khan who attended the meeting now as member of CCLC and stated that this law would serve as model law for the protection of children from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.

Personal life

Rabiya Javeri Agha is married to fellow Pakistan Administrative Service officer Agha Jan Akhtar. The couple have four sons.