Sehar is the Pakistan country representative for the United States Institute of Peace. Her work focuses on developing and supporting programs aimed at finding and mitigating drivers of conflict within Pakistan and in the region. Using research to inform conflict resolution and mitigation programs in Pakistan, Sehar is focused on finding innovative solutions to long-standing and emerging conflicts in the country and region. Previously, Sehar managed the Education Innovation Fund at Ilm Ideas – a DfID funded program dedicated to finding innovative solutions to Pakistan’s education challenges. Sehar also has over 5 years of experience teaching in secondary schools in Pakistan.
Sehar was a founding member of Pakistan's premier think-tank, the Jinnah Institute, where her work focused on issues of human rights, governance and national security.
Sehar has also worked with international aid organizations on governance related projects. At the Asia Foundation in Islamabad, she helped set up the largest national civil society coalition on election monitoring during the 2008 elections in Pakistan and oversaw activities for mobilizing and educating women and first time voters. Her work in the development sector has been targeted at amplifying citizen demands for democracy and transparency. She has also worked with local police departments and civil society groups on raising awareness about police reforms and has worked on projects related to increasing the Rule of Law and getting citizens, particulalrly women, access to justice in Pakistan.
Ms. Tariq holds a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from Yale University and a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs.
She also contributes regularly to Pakistani Newspaperson matters pertaining to education, foreign relations, extremism and women’s rights. She blogs at www.sehartariq.wordpress.com.