Haya Zahid Legal Aid Office, Pakistan

Haya Zahid is the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Office (LAO), a quasi-government entity which provides legal aid services to pre-trial and under trial prisoners in the province of Sindh in Pakistan. LAO works across 21 prisons providing legal aid and empowerment support through legal literacy and convict-led paralegal programs. Zahid is also the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society, an organization that seeks to enhance the legal empowerment of marginalized women, children and minorities through raising awareness, facilitation, capacity enhancement, and policy work. Her research interests include legal needs mapping, conflict configuration, and countering violent extremism inside prisons. Zahid is an Acumen Pakistan Fellow 2015 and an Australia Awards Fellow at the Australian National University 2017. She received her LL.B from the University College London in 2006 and completed the Bar Vocational Course from City Law School in 2009.