Begum Jan (Urdu: بیگم جان) is a doctor and the founder of the Tribal Women Welfare Association, which educates tribal women in Northwest Pakistan about their rights, and gives them medical training.[1][2][3][4] She grew up in South Waziristan, a conservative area of Pakistan, but her father encouraged her to become a doctor.[4] She attended a school for boys as a child because there was no school for girls, and when her tribal elders forbid her to attend high school she studied with a tutor instead.[3]
In 2007, at a nationwide women's protest against clerics advocating suicide bombings and other violence, Jan led the Tribal Women Welfare Association's protest.[5] As of 2008 she is the Tribal Women Welfare Association's chairwoman.[6]
She received a 2008 International Women of Courage Award, making her the first Pakistani woman to receive that award.[2][3]
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