This October, Hilal for Her celebrates its first anniversary. The yearlong journey has been eventful to say the least. With motivation and dedication we aimed all our efforts towards the achievement of our objectives: of celebrating the role that the women of our country have played in its creation, progress and development; educating the youth of today about the impact of women in the evolution and advancement of the society and polity and inspiring them by sharing stories of accomplished women; increasing the awareness that women have it in them to change the course not only of their own lives but that of history; and that empowerment is to realize one’s potential and garner support and encouragement to achieve greatness. As a result the magazine has been able to create a niche for itself.
Women make up almost 49% of Pakistan’s population and quite obviously have a great role to play in the country’s growth and progress. They are stakeholders in the progress of the country so their empowerment is necessary. We believe that this empowerment should be focussed and moulded according to our own blend of religious and socio-cultural norms and values. In short, we promote an indigenous empowerment model that caters to our sensibilities instead of blind emulation of the empowerment models of the west.
In this context, our articles and stories strive to underline the importance of the need for women to learn how to strike a balance between their family life, being economically independent, and being aware of their social rights. The importance of hard work, determination, passion and the will to rise despite many hurdles, and the satisfaction brought by giving back to the society is the focus of the magazine. We believe that one needs only find the power within and you can literally scale a mountain; a woman can withstand the harshest blow possible, and yet will stand tall and not let it throw her off balance; that with passion, positive encouragement, support and hard work, women can break stereotypes and reach for the stars. 
As we complete a year, we are heartened to see that the Pakistani society is readier than ever to evolve and advance by embracing the accomplishments of its women in every field and empowering those who are still in the shadows waiting to realize their potential. And so, we hope to continue our journey with vision of a future where there will be abundant opportunities and every person, be it man or woman, will be able to grow and be who they want to be, commensurate with their potential making use of the talents they are bestowed with, and become productive citizens of this great nation of ours. HH

Nadia Zubair
[email protected]