Mrs. Zahra Shaheen Premani
Catco Kids, Pakistan
Zahra Shaheen is working with Catco Kids since its inception in Pakistan, and has a vast knowledge base of Early ChildhoodDevelopment. She began her career with Catco Kids as a Daycare Nurse, was promoted to the position of Administrator and Regional Coordinator, and now serves as the Chief Operations Officer of the Catco Kids. She was the first ECD nurse in Pakistan, who advocated changing the role of traditional bedside nursing to an ECD nurse, through various guest lectures. She has also worked in several health-related projects like conducting antenatal classes for pregnant women, initiating lactation clinic and conducting lactation classes for clients and initiating home health care project at the Aga Khan University Hospital. Zahra has also participated in health fairs and awareness workshops arranged by the Aga Khan Health Services Program, Pakistan and in several research studies in the fields of health and Early Childhood Development (ECD). She has also developed, implemented and managed a multi-stakeholder, community-based project aimed at creating integrated service delivery model for health, education and daycare support services.
Zahra has presented and participated in several international Conferences, as well as published several studies involving Daycare, Early Childhood Development, health and preventive care, which are being used as the basis of many programs. Her interest in ECD has led her to pursue the Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Development from the Aga Khan University Human Development program. She is also a certified Lactation Consultant and has completed her Master’s degree in International Primary Health Care from University of London on a full Commonwealth Scholarship. Zahra has received several merit awards in her academic as well as service excellence. She is a member of the SIGMA THETA TAU INTERNATIONAL (STTI), and an Executive Board member of Early Years Learning Association (EYLA) and participates in several training programs related to Early Childhood Development.