Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
British-Pakistani Fawzia Younis became the first British female diplomat of Muslim origin to hold the position of head of the British mission abroad. In a tweet on Twitter, Rosie Diaz, the British government spokeswoman in the Middle East, wrote, "I congratulate my colleague Fawzia Younis on her appointment as Consul General to His Majesty in Toronto, Canada." With this appointment, Fawzia becomes the first British Muslim female diplomat to hold the position of head of a British mission abroad, and certainly not the last.
For her part, Yunus commented, "A special moment that we believe is the first time (but we do not have data) that a British Muslim woman has been appointed as the head of a diplomatic post. It will not be the last."
And she wrote another post that said, "To the girls who look like me, who are fighting prejudice, racism, and sexism from within and outside societies, who have been told they can't do it, or that they don't look a part. Don't let anyone weaken your power. You can change the world."
  Yunus used to hold the position of Head of Communications and Public Diplomacy at the British High Commission in Islamabad, and according to media reports, the high achiever paid tribute to her father, recalling the days when his father used to drive her to the bus station at 4 am for her job interviews. She also mentioned her late mother, who would stand with her as she went to university and would go home in the dark streets of the UK.
The young diplomat has extensive experience in building international relations in the Middle East and South Asia and is an expert in developing multicultural and diverse teams.
Three years ago, Fouzia made headlines when she landed the position of Director of Communications at the British High Commission in the Pakistani capital, being the first female diplomat from a South Asian country to be appointed to the position.
In her career, the diplomat earlier co-chaired the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) network leading a global network of over 300 staff. It even leads British strategic efforts across the GCC region.