Muhammad Atif Sheikh

Muhammad Atif Sheikh
Born (1976-02-20) 20 February 1976 (age 50)
EducationUniversity of East Anglia
OccupationDisability rights activist
Known forSpecial Talent Exchange Program and the South Asian Disability Forum
TitleExecutive Director, Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP)
RelativesAbia Akram (sister)
AwardsD-30 Disability Impact List (2023)

Muhammad Atif Sheikh (born 20 February 1976) is a global disability rights activist from Pakistan and the founder and executive director of the Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP), an organisation of persons with disabilities based in Islamabad. He was the first chairperson of the South Asian Disability Forum. In 2012 the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) recognised him as a promoter of the Incheon Strategy, and he received its "Champion of the Decade" award for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities. In 2023 he was named to the D-30 Disability Impact List compiled by Diversability. He is a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow. He has advocated for disability rights in 42 countries. His sister, Abia Akram, is also a disability rights activist from Pakistan.

Early life and education

Sheikh was born with a physical disability. In 1985 he was a student at the Al-Farabi Special Education Centre in Islamabad. In 2007 he studied at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom as a Chevening Scholar.

Career

Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP)

In 1997 Sheikh started a self-help group to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in Pakistan. After returning from the United Kingdom in 2008, he and his colleagues developed the group into the Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP), a cross-disability organisation. Press reports have described him as STEP's president and as its executive director.

Regional and international work

In 2002 Sheikh represented Pakistan at the World Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International and the Osaka Forum on Disability and Development in Japan. He was the founding chairperson of the South Asian Disability Forum and, according to UNESCAP, has presented technical papers at more than 30 policy meetings and seminars internationally. The Government of Pakistan agreed to establish the forum, with a secretariat in Islamabad, at the close of a 2010 regional leadership conference for persons with disabilities that STEP co-organised with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education, the British Council, Telenor Pakistan and Sightsavers. The forum has held a civil society seat on UNESCAP's Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities in 2013–2017, 2018–2022 and 2023–2032.

In 2012 UNESCAP named him a promoter of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013–2022. In 2019 he gave the opening remarks at a roundtable co-organised by the UK's Department for International Development and STEP in Islamabad to review progress on commitments made at the 2018 Global Disability Summit. He was a speaker at the 2025 Global Disability Summit in Berlin.

Employment

From 2009 STEP advised Telenor Pakistan on its Khuddar Pakistan disability initiative, training staff, assessing the accessibility of its buildings and hosting one of its assistive technology labs. In 2019 Telenor Pakistan, Unilever Pakistan and STEP launched the Disability Job Center, an online portal for job seekers with disabilities and for employers. Diversability credited Sheikh with creating employment opportunities for about 10,000 persons with disabilities through the centre.

Political participation

In 2012 Susan Hyland, Political Counsellor at the British High Commission in Pakistan, wrote about meeting Sheikh in Lahore and visiting STEP to discuss the barriers persons with disabilities faced in obtaining identity cards and registering to vote. STEP has worked with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Election Commission of Pakistan, including on a national consultation workshop that informed the commission's 2010–2014 strategic plan, the accessibility section of the Pakvoter website, and accessible voter education materials.

Education

In 2017–2018 STEP ran a programme in Charsadda and Nowshera districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, funded by USAID, which identified 220 girls with disabilities for school enrolment, provided 180 of them with assistive devices and trained 90 teachers. Diversability states that Sheikh designed and managed a school for 240 children with disabilities in rural Pakistan. The Noor-e-Sehar Special Education School in Daharki, Ghotki District, established in 2020 with the support of Mari Petroleum, provides free education and therapy to more than 200 children with disabilities.

Women with disabilities

In 2017 the US Embassy in Islamabad concluded a one-year programme managed by STEP to support women with disabilities, and US Ambassador David Hale opened a leadership conference for about 70 disability rights advocates organised with STEP and Mobility International USA. Sheikh spoke at a 2021 event at Parliament House organised by the Women's Parliamentary Caucus and UNFPA on women with disabilities. In December 2022 the National Commission on the Status of Women, STEP and UNFPA held a panel discussion on access to gender-based violence services for women and girls with disabilities.

Disaster risk reduction

In May 2024 the National Disaster Management Authority launched an e-learning toolkit on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction, developed with UNESCAP and STEP, at its National Emergency Operations Centre; Sheikh briefed the launch session on the toolkit.

Research

Sheikh established the Center for Research on Inclusive Development, described by Diversability as the first research centre on disability rights in South Asia.

NOOR AI Equal Access

NOOR AI Equal Access is an artificial intelligence-based initiative developed by STEP to promote digital inclusion and access to information for persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls. It provides confidential information on disability rights, gender-based violence, legal assistance and psychosocial support through multilingual communication. Since its launch in 2021, it has reached more than 18,000 users and facilitated more than 5,200 referrals.

The project received a Zero Project Award in 2026. STEP is also developing NOOR Rozgaar, an application intended to support access to employment for persons with disabilities.

Views

Sheikh has advocated the social model of disability over the medical model. Hyland quoted him as saying of disability rights: "It's not about charity... It's about political participation." He has criticised the government's implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Pakistan ratified in 2011, including the enforcement of job quotas for persons with disabilities. He has questioned official disability statistics, describing the 0.48 per cent disability rate recorded in the 2017 census as implausible, and said that in 2013 STEP had asked for the Washington Group questions to be included in the census. He has also spoken about the lack of state support for families caring for members with severe disabilities. In 2017 he criticised the motivational speaker Muniba Mazari for presenting what he called a charity model of disability.

Recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ali, Ijaz (22 December 2019). "Society: The importance of access". Dawn. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sheikh, Atif (8 December 2015). "Empowering disabled people across Pakistan". Chevening. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Mr. Muhammad Atif Sheikh, President, Special Talent Exchange Program, Islamabad, Pakistan". Make the Right Real. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Yu, T. (8 July 2023). "Muhammad Atif Sheikh". Diversability. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Sheikh, Atif. "Post on completing the academic part of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship". LinkedIn. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  6. ↑ "Islamabad to have degree college for special students". Dawn. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 "Interview: Syed Hasnat Masood, Director CCR, Telenor & Atif Sheikh, President STEP". ProPakistani. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  8. 1 2 Wasif, Sehrish (21 February 2012). "Rights for special persons: Complying with international convention easier said than done". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Telenor Pakistan launches a job center for differently abled people". ProPakistani. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Langtree, Ian C. (3 August 2010). "Pakistan to create South Asia Disability Forum". Disabled World. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities". Make the Right Real. UNESCAP. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  12. ↑ "A year since the Global Disability Summit, UK invites stakeholders to review progress". GOV.UK. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Muhammad Atif Sheikh". Global Disability Summit 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  14. 1 2 Hyland, Susan (6 March 2012). "It's not about charity". Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  15. ↑ "Strengthening Disability Inclusion in Pakistan". International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  16. ↑ "Supporting school enrolment of girls with disabilities". Zero Project. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  17. ↑ "Advancing abilities, enabling independence, transforming futures". MariEnergies. 6 February 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  18. ↑ "US supports Pakistan's efforts to advance rights of the disabled". ProPakistani. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  19. ↑ "WPC, UNFPA organize special event to pay tribute to achievements of WWDs". Associated Press of Pakistan. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  20. ↑ "16 Days of Activism, Day 11". National Commission on the Status of Women. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  21. ↑ "NDMA launches e-learning tool kit for disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction in support with UNESCAP & STEP" (Press release). Press Information Department, Government of Pakistan. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  22. ↑ "NOOR AI Equal Access". Zero Project. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  23. 1 2 "Zero Project Awardee 2026: NOOR AI Equal Access". Zero Project Conference 2026. 20 January 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  24. ↑ Sheikh, Muhammad Atif (24 October 2021). "Persons with disabilities in Pakistan". Business Recorder. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  25. ↑ "Caring for Pakistan's persons with disabilities". Dawn. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  26. ↑ "Disability movement in Pakistan disassociates themselves from Muniba Mazari". The Express Tribune. December 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2026.