Komal Ali, from NDU, has become the first Pakistani woman to be selected for the Hiroshima-ICAN Academy on Nuclear Weapons and Global Security 2021. ICAN was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its work, said that “draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and our “ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”.
It’s an annual program initiated in 2019. Komal Ali is among the 41 participants and has become the first Pakistani woman to bag a place in the joint course. ICAN through its Nuclear Weapon and Global Security train young leaders to work towards nuclear disarmament to make concrete efforts and contributions for a peaceful world.
Ms. Komal Ali Shah, MPhil Student at Department of Strategic Studies, National Defence University 🇵🇰, has been selected as the first Pakistani for the Hirsohima-ICAN Academy on Nuclear Weapons and Global Security 2021. pic.twitter.com/grA2BI20jM
— Department of Strategic Studies, NDU Pakistan (@SSDeptNDU) November 21, 2021
“I would enhance the discussion by encouraging campaigns about nuclear disarmament from an educational perspective,” Komal says. The Pakistani student will be researching environmental hazards at the testing sites of a nuclear weapon.
Read more: Why Pakistan has the most feared nuclear weapons program in the world
Humanitarian aspects overlooked while making nuclear policies
Komal Ali believes that humanitarian aspects are overlooked when making nuclear policies. The course invites half of its students from the recognized nuclear weapons states like the USA, UK, Russia, China, and Germany. The other half is selected from the non-recognized nuclear states of India, Pakistan, and Israel.
Hello, it's me. 😁 https://t.co/8ZvxCi8C9m
— Komal (@KomalAliShahh) November 21, 2021
Komal was born in Karachi. She has one younger brother. Her mother is a housewife and her father is a businessman. She moved to Islamabad in 2012 and then completed her Master’s degree in Strategic and Nuclear Studies. The young girl is currently doing her MPhil at the National Defence University.
Read more: How Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan saved Pakistan by making it a nuclear weapon state?
“I didn’t have any background in this field,” says Komal Ali Shah. She selected subjected on her own, knowing that there are not many women in this field. “I am learning about the strategic culture of other countries and their nuclear policies,” she added in her statement to a local media.