By Hira Nafees Shah
Saima Maqbool was already well aware of Facebook before signing up for a social media training workshop for young women of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
But after attending the workshops and conducting three more sessions, her perspective changed dramatically. “Not only did I learn to create a LinkedIn profile but also started writing a blog about gender discrimination,” she said.
These workshops were the brainchild of Saqib Javed, a 24-year-old computer engineering student with a humble demeanor, who is also an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumnus. 
Javed’s project titled “Young Women for Peace and Development” focused on teaching women in his area how to use social media to raise awareness about civic issues, so that they can play their roles as responsible citizens of society.
“I wanted to concentrate on women so that I can educate them about their rights and empower them through this initiative,” he said.
The project was made possible by a $5,000 Alumni Small Grants from the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN), which sponsors community engagement projects that support new Pakistani voices and leaders.
All alumni of U.S. sponsored exchange programs in Pakistan are eligible to apply for Alumni Small Grants.
Javed decided to conduct workshops in three districts of Azad Kashmir:- Mirpur, Bagh and Muzaffarabad. He recruited two focal persons from each district to deliver lectures on how to use social media for community mobilization, to increase democratic participation and encourage civic action. The Youth Parliament of Pakistan’s AJK chapter, of which Javed is also a member, also stepped in to give a lecture on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
About 20 to 25 females participated in each workshop, reaching 75 women total, who were trained to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and to write blogs. In turn these women conducted 15 more awareness sessions in colleges, universities and vocational training centers, extending the project’s reach to more than 500 women who were educated on how to use social media to spread awareness of civic challenges, including the Kashmir dispute.
“We call the Line of Control the blood line and I believe women can play an important role in transforming the conflict so that it leads to a resolution,” Javed said.
One workshop participant Zara Shafique says she had always wanted to write blogs, but she didn’t know how to do it before the training. But now the undergraduate space sciences student is not only involved in blogging, but says she has also become more tolerant of other people’s views by learning the true meaning of democracy.
“The workshop taught me how I can use cyber-space to earn for myself through blogging or freelancing, as the security situation is not always conducive for women to go out and work,” Shafique said. Visit her “Spreading Smiles” blog at ; http://zarashafiqblog.wordpress.com/ 
Another undergraduate student Nighat Iqbal who is studying English literature says the sessions taught her how to change her privacy settings on social media websites. She believes the best learning experience that she gained out of the project was when she conducted sensitization sessions on democracy in five colleges of Mirpur.
“I now remain committed to work for women empowerment and raise voice against any kind of social injustice,” Iqbal said.
Almost 100 females created Facebook profiles as a result of the workshops. Buoyed by his success, Javed has now submitted an application to set up a local non-profit that will focus on women’s empowerment issues in Azad Kashmir.
The U.S Embassy also selected Javed to attend a regional conference on “Conflict Transformation and Peace-building” in Nepal; and from there onwards the sky is the limit for this talented alumnus!
For more information about Javed’s grant project, read about it here:
