The year 2023 has come to an end, and Pakistan is looking forward to high expectations in 2024 as during the outgoing year, Pakistan achieved several milestones in various fields, with particular emphasis on the breaking of barriers by Pakistani women, according to a report on Sunday.

A wax figure of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto became the first representation of a Pakistani personality at Madame Tussauds’ museum in Dubai. In March, British-Pakistani diplomat Fouzia Younis became the first British Muslim to be appointed as the consul general to Toronto, providing representation to the Pakistani diaspora abroad.

The Lahore High Court Bar Association witnessed a historic moment as Sabahat Rizvi was elected as its first woman secretary since its inception in 1893. In another significant development, Justice Musarrat Hilali was sworn in as the first woman chief justice of the Peshawar High Court. She later made history again by becoming the Supreme Court’s second woman judge.

Further diversifying representation, the Supreme Court appointed its first female registrar after Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa appointed Jazeela Aslam, Additional District, and Sessions Judge from Okara, to the role.

Young Pakistani woman to perform at the coronation of Charles III

History made: Justice Ayesha Malik takes oath as Pakistan’s first female SC judge

PPP’s Sadia Danish was elected unopposed as the first woman deputy speaker of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly. Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s lawmaker Rana Ansar became the first-ever woman opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly. Namira Salim made history by becoming the first Pakistan to reach space.

In sports-related development, 28-year-old Hijab Zahid became the first woman general manager in the history of the Pakistan Super League after she was hired by Multan Sultans for the position. Renowned mountaineer Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani woman climber to summit 10 peaks above 8,000 meters in the outgoing year. Girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat played the “first-ever” women’s cricket match in the Kabal tehsil despite facing restrictions and roadblocks.

Women have also shown their talent in showbiz. After becoming the first Pakistani to win the prestigious Grammy Award last year, Arooj Aftab in February also became the first artist from the country to perform at the Grammys.

Religious and gender minorities also set new records as Samreen Amir was appointed as KP’s first Christian woman additional station house officer.

In the outgoing year, the transgender community was formally included in the Benazir Income Support Programme, being the first instance of a marginalized group getting rights in the program.