Forbes has chosen two individuals for its list of Asia’s 50 over 50:
- Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman, who made headlines throughout the world at the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference in 2022
- Justice Ayesha Malik is the first woman to preside over the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
50 Asian-Pacific women over 50 who are making strides in their careers and inspiring the next generation were profiled by Forbes. According to the publication, these women are demonstrating that achievement in a variety of fields—including technology, health, art, politics, and more—can occur at any age. To create this list, Forbes collaborated with Mika Brzezinski and Know Your Value.
Senator Rehman, 62, garnered global attention when representing Pakistan at the climate summit where she proposed a new agreement to transfer funds from wealthy nations to developing nations that had experienced natural disasters connected to climate change. A former journalist, minister of communication, and Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Senator Rehman became the first woman to serve as the Senate’s Leader of the Opposition in 2018.
She was appointed to the Shehbaz Sharif-led cabinet as minister of climate change in April 2022. Rehman has received a number of honors, including Pakistan’s highest civil award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
She shared co-authorship of the 2006 book Five Hundred Years of the Kashmiri Shawl, for which she was honored with the R. L. Shep Textiles Book Award from the Textile Society of America. The Financial Times included the minister on its list of the 25 Most Influential Women in 2022.
Pakistan was also represented on the list by Ayesha Malik, who at the age of 56 became the country’s first female Supreme Court justice. Prior to being appointed to the nation’s top court, Justice Malik served as a judge at the Lahore High Court for ten years.
She made decisions on whether Pakistan should recognize international arbitration and took part in the Green Bench initiative to advance environmental justice.
In 2021, Justice Malik issued a historic ruling that outlawed virginity examinations in rape cases. She has served on the boards of the Punjab Judicial Academy and the Judicial Officers Female Supervisory Committee.
