Pakistani Delegation Learns About Bedford Town Government

May 1, 2013
Pakistani visitors Shazia Mallah, Rabia Noor and Najia Zahra
Visitors from Pakistan Shazia Mallah, Rabia Noor and Najia Zahra enjoyed a moment of sunshine outside Bedford’s Town Hall  Image (c) KS, 2013 all rights reserved

By Kim Siebert MacPhail

Three government and agency administrators from Pakistan are visiting Bedford until May 10 through a Department of State grant to the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) and the Institute for Training and Development in Amherst. According to an MMA press release, the visiting women are part of a 14 member delegation currently in Massachusetts and are the last of 75 Pakistani visitors to come to the US since the program began in 2010. The objective of the visits is to learn about Town government and to forge professional and personal relationships.

“The MMA asked Bedford to consider hosting a delegation because our officials and staff are well-respected among our peers in Massachusetts,” Town Manager Rick Reed said.  “In addition to Bedford, other members of this delegation are visiting Brewster, Framingham, Medford and Westborough. In the previous two visits, other municipalities have hosted other government officials from Pakistan.”

Bedford was also chosen because of Reed’s own professional development experiences, which include international travel to learn about municipal government in other countries. Bedford has hosted delegations of local government officials in the past from Montenegro, England, and Australia, Reed adds.

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Objects of the Pakistani “professional attachment” grant include:

  • Improved knowledge and appreciation for government systems and approaches in another democratic society;
  • Discussions with US counterparts about strategies for countering corruption and for building public confidence and civic participation
  • Development of professional and personal relationships;
  • Development of action plans from principles and best practices observed in the host country.

Activities in which the visitors will participate while in Bedford include attendance at the May 6 Selectmen’s meeting, and attendance at a Rotary luncheon and at the School Committee meeting on May 7. Reed will take the delegation on an area sight-seeing tour this Saturday, and the visitors will attend a service at First Parish on the Common this Sunday.

Short biographies of the members of visiting delegation appear below:

Ms. Shazia Mallah is from Nawabshah, Province of Sindh. She is a Management Associate at the Ministry of Production for the Government of Pakistan and is responsible for implementing social sector development projects in enterprise development, skill enhancement, capacity building, project monitoring and evaluation, and contract administration. She develops and analyzes project proposals, coordinates project management, and facilitates training workshops, seminars and exhibitions. Her degrees are in English and Business Administration.

Ms. Rabia Noor is from Abbottobad, Province of Khyber Pakhtunkwha. She is the director of the Child and Women Section of the provincial Ombudsman’s Office. Noor monitors a UNICEF project that aims to ensure children’s rights and investigates complaints relating to women and children’s issues. Her graduate studies focused on International Law, Refuge Law, and the work of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Ms. Najia Zahra is from Ghanche, Province of Gilgit Baltistan. She works in the offices of the Auditor General and Revenue and assists with parliamentary inquiries into executive expenditures. Zahra supervises executive branch audits and focuses on government redundancies and efficiencies. She was the first woman civil servant in the Gilgit Baltistan province.

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