News from the future! Pakistan celebrated as equal rights leader

This article was originally published in the Global Times, a satirical newspaper from the year 2030 published by EWB Canada. The Global Times shares a positive vision of the future and uses humour and imagination to inform, inspire and motivate people to build a better world for everyone. Learn more and take action through the Hello 2030 campaign at hello2030.ca!

For the second year in a row, Pakistan has won the Global Equality Award from the United Nations. Due to the strong leadership and unprecedented popularity of Prime Minister Farzana Bibi, the country has made one of the most rapid social, political and economic transformations in history, not only signing on to existing international human rights and economic agreements, but pushing the world toward ever more progressive and collaborative global standards.

In Islamabad, the award announcement was met with pride:

“No matter your gender, religion, ethnicity, or other identities, you’re welcome here in Pakistan. I’m glad that commitment to diversity and equal rights is being recognized,” says shopkeeper Ahmed.

“People were skeptical when we began pushing other countries to protect and promote transgender rights, but we led by example and many other countries have modelled our inclusive policies. It’s been a game changer,” says trans activist Nafisa.

“Just 10 years ago, the 8 richest people in the world had the same wealth as the 3.6 billion poorest people,” notes economics student Faisal. “Pakistan was one of the countries that successfully pushed billionaires to invest in social enterprises [for-profit businesses that also aim to have a social impact] and higher corporate taxes so governments could expand public services. Now, not only has the wealth gap decreased within and between countries, but poverty rates are down and health, education and safety rates are up. That leadership in reducing inequalities is a real source of national pride.”

While Pakistan is enjoying it’s historic status, other countries are keen to catch up.

“Canada is still in the top 10, but of course we’d like to be closer to the very top spot,” says Minister for Community and Global Cooperation, Brett McMillan. “I’ll be reaching out to my Pakistani counterparts in the coming weeks so I can get critical feedback and learn from their best practices, but in the meantime, I congratulate PM Bibi for her leadership – keep up the good work!”

 

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