Nafis Sadik is a national of Pakistan. Born in Jaunpur, India, Nafis served as Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with the rank of Under-Secretary-General, from 1987 to 2000. When she was appointed in 1987, she made history as first woman to head one of the United Nations' major voluntarily-funded programmes. She has consistently championed the needs of women, and of involving women directly in making and carrying out development policy.

In June 1990, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Nafis as Secretary-General of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 1994. Nafis’ outstanding contribution to improve the health of women and children internationally has brought her many awards and honours.

She is a member of the Board of Governors of the Foundation for Human Development, and a member of the South Asian Commission on the Asian Challenge. Nafis was the President of the Society for International Development (SID) for the period 1994-1997.

Nafis has written numerous articles for leading publications in the family planning, health, and population and development fields, and edited several books, among them: Population: The UNFPA Experience (New York University Press, 1984), Population Policies and Programmes: Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Experience, (New York University Press, 1991), and Making a Difference: Twenty-five Years of UNFPA Experience, (Banson, London, United Kingdom, 1994).