Naela Chohan: The Artist and Diplomat Promoting Women’s Rights on All Fronts

Naela Chohan is a diplomat, artist, and ambassador from Pakistan. Ambassador Chohan is a seasoned and experienced diplomat who has held leadership roles in eight separate Pakistani diplomatic missions across five continents. Hyperpolyglot Naela Chohan speaks seven Indo-European languages fluently, including Persian, French, and Spanish.

Naela Chohan, together with a select group of other diplomats, is the first and most senior group of women to reach the top of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In January 2008, Naela Chohan was defined as “though slight in stature and soft in speech, Naela Chohan accounts for 50% of the Pakistani foreign service’s most potent power couple” by Canada’s weekly foreign policy Embassy Magazine. Her diplomatic career began on Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ China Desk, and ever since then, she has advocated for a robust Pakistan-China Alliance built on several forms of cooperation. 

Being the first woman and civilian to lead Pakistan’s National Authority on the Implementation of the Convention on the ban of Chemical Weapons, Naela Chohan is dedicated to the global ban of chemical weapons. The Plaza de Pakistan in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is one of the sites in Pakistan that she designed or refurbished. Following the 1979 Revolution, she was the first foreign woman diplomat welcomed by the Iranian administration in Tehran.

During her tenure as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Australia, Naela Chohan prioritized strengthening bilateral connections by focusing on improving security, agricultural, educational, and economic cooperation. She was Pakistan’s ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and Ecuador before taking on the role of secretary for the Middle East and Africa. During her time there, she actively advocated for closer relations between Pakistan and Latin America. She attended Harvard University’s Kennedy School as well as Quaid-e-Azam University.

In addition to her work in diplomacy, Ambassador Naela Chohan is a fervent supporter of women’s rights through the visual arts, particularly when it comes to topics relevant to women’s social conditions. Her artwork has been exhibited on five continents and has won praise from both leaders of state and civic society. Souffrance, her most well-known piece, has been featured permanently at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris since 2002.

Education And Family

Naela Chohan graduated from Quaid-e-Azam University in 1982 with a master’s degree in international relations and the Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris in 2002 with a PhD session certificate in the same field. She also completed training at the École du Louvre in Paris (2001) and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In addition, Naela Chohan completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Development Program (EDP) (2006). She is a hyperpolyglot who speaks seven Indo-European languages fluently, including Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Persian (which she learned at age 35), and Spanish (which she learned at age 51).

Ambassador Naela Chohan is the wife of Ambassador (R) Musa Javed Chohan, who has held positions as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Malaysia (1997), Permanent Representative to UNESCO (2001), and Ambassador to France (2001). Usman W. Chohan and Ibrahim A. Chohan are her two children.

Career

• Chohan, who was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, held the position of Pakistan’s ambassador to Australia, during which time she placed a high priority on strengthening bilateral connections and advancing security, agricultural, educational, and economic partnerships. On October 29, 2014, she took up her position at Government House in Canberra. 
• She is accredited in this role to several Pacific countries, including Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. She opened the Pakistani Consulate General in Melbourne in April of 2018. Her diplomatic career began on Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ China Desk, and ever since then, she has advocated for a robust Pakistan-China Alliance built on several forms of cooperation.
• Naela Chohan, together with a select group of other diplomats, is the first and most senior group of women to reach the top of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has the distinction of being the first foreign woman diplomat to be welcomed by the Iranian administration in Tehran following the 1979 Revolution. 
• In January 2008, Naela Chohan was defined as “though slight in stature and soft in speech, Naela Chohan accounts for 50% of the Pakistani foreign service’s most potent power couple” by Canada’s weekly foreign policy Embassy Magazine.
• Naela Chohan is a distinguished and experienced Pakistani diplomat who has served on eight separate diplomatic postings across five continents. Naela Chohan has served as an Additional Secretary (AS) for the Middle East and Africa, at the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa, as part of the Pakistan delegation to the 41st and 42nd sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, and as an ambassador to Tehran (1989–1993) and Kuala Lumpur (1997–2001). 
• Being the first woman and civilian to lead Pakistan’s National Authority on the Implementation of the Convention on the ban of Chemical Weapons, Naela Chohan is dedicated to the global ban of chemical weapons. She has served as a career diplomat and has also held positions on the boards of the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC), the Overseas Employment Corporation of Pakistan, and the Inter State Gas System Limited (Pvt). 

• Additionally, she was chosen overwhelmingly to serve as the Asia Pacific Development Center (APDC) Chairperson in Kuala Lumpur from 1998 to 2000. At the Universidad del Salvador’s School of Oriental Studies (Escuela de los Estudios Orientales), Ambassador Chohan has been appointed as a Profesora Visitante.
• Naela Chohan was the first female Foreign Service Officer to fill the role of Acting Foreign Secretary (A-FS) at the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, having taken it on in April 2014. She then took up this position again in July of 2014. The first Pakistani to visit the Solomon Islands was Madam Ambassador Chohan, who in 2016 formally opened diplomatic ties between Pakistan and the islands.

Women’s rights campaigning and the arts

In addition to her career in diplomacy, Ambassador Naela Chohan is a fervent supporter of women’s rights via the visual arts. Boutros Boutros Ghali inaugurated her piece Souffrance on UN International Women’s Day in 2002, and it is permanently displayed at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. 

Her work was characterized as “a reflection on the position of women in society, illiteracy, economic empowerment, women’s contribution to society and discrimination they face” by the UNESCO Bureau of Strategic Planning Section for Women and Gender Equality. The piece, Enlightenment (1999), was launched by Malaysia’s First Lady Datin Sri Endon Mahmood and is currently on permanent display in the Museum of Islamic Heritage in Kuala Lumpur. 

Her art has also been featured in significant shows and exhibitions in Paris (2002), Buenos Aires (2011), and Ottawa (2008), where First Lady of Canada Mrs. Laureen Harper opened her exposition. First Lady of Pakistan Samina Alvi opened her exhibition, Art from the Heart, at the National Art Gallery in Pakistan. The show’s focus was on women’s issues and dispelling negative stereotypes and narratives.