Salman Sufi has been nominated for the prestigious ‘Mother Teresa Award’ 2018 in India.

Sufi joins Dalai Lama, Malala Yousufzai, Priyanka Chopra, Mahathir Mohammed, Bilquis Edhi, Neerja Bhanot, Abdullah Bin Zayed Bin Nahyan, who have previously received this award for their services to promote peace, harmony and social justice around the world. This award will be conferred in Mumbai India on 21st October 2018. The award is given in honour of Mother Teresa and is the only award, in the name of Mother Teresa, recognized by the Missionaries of Charity.

Talking to the Nation, Sufi told that he is concerned about the future of his landmark projects under the new administration as they have been facing difficulties and wants the new government to continue this work, which is benefiting the abused women of Punjab.

Other nominees this year’s are Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Laureate-2003), Tawakkol Karman (Nobel Laureate-2011), H.E. Rula Ghani (First Lady of Afghanistan), Yeonmi Park (North Korean Refugee), Oby Ezekwesili (Founder-Bring Back Our Girls), Nadia Murad (Nobel Laureate, Yazidi Refugee & UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking), and Nashwa Al-Ruwaini (CEO & Founder-Pyramedia).

Salman Sufi is a former SRU DG - which was made by former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif. He is also the author of Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act-2016 and founder of South Asia’s first survivor centric Anti Violence against Women Center.

The Mother Teresa Awards, by Harmony foundation, is an award given to honour individuals and organizations that promote peace, equality and social justice; the people who aim to encourage justice and peaceful coexistence, while providing an impetus for society to imbibe these values.

Sufi’s reforms were widely supported by previous government led by PML-N, but have been placed on the back burner by the new administration. He was asked to leave his post due to his close working coordination with former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and his projects, which gained worldwide recognition, are facing trouble in Pakistan.

Sufi said that he dedicates this award to all the women in Pakistan that face harassment and violence and hopes to continue providing justice to them. Sufi was nominated for this award based on his extensive services in women empowerment and social uplifting of the marginalized masses in Pakistan.

He initiated the movement for passage of Pakistan’s first comprehensive women protection legislation, which had its own implementation mechanism called VAWC. VAWC is a one-stop survivor centric model which provides police, prosecution, medical, shelter and post-trauma psychological rehabilitation under one roof to survivors of violence.

The legislation was passed in 2016 and received fierce criticism from the religious right wing. Sufi was attacked and pressurized to withdraw the legislation but with the support of then Punjab chief minister, the legislation survived.

Sufi went on to establish the first VAWC in Multan in 2017, which, just in a year, resolved over 2,200 cases of violence against women and is a model that gained international recognition for its ability to provide victims of violence the immediate support and justice they need.

Salman Sufi is also credited with adding chapters against violence against women in Punjab’s textbooks and starting the first, and highly successful, women’s mobility movement called ‘Women on Wheels.’ Sufi trained over 4,000 women in a highly conservative Pakistan society on how to ride motorbikes so they could be economically and socially independent.

The former government supported the movement and provided 3,000 pink subsidized motorbikes to women in Punjab. Sufi went on to legislate Punjab Women Protection Authority, first of its kind authority in South Asia, which was solely created to implement pro women laws and establish VAWC throughout Punjab.