Dr. Shabina Raza is Nutrition International’s Country Director for Pakistan. In this role, she provides strategic, technical and operational guidance at the country level, including project development, financial oversight, donor engagement and human resources. She also leads high-level advocacy efforts with government, donors and partners to influence policy and drive systemic change aimed at improving the nutritional status of people in Pakistan.

Dr. Raza is an accomplished public health specialist with over 30 years of experience spanning reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health, nutrition, service delivery, policy development, human resources management and health systems strengthening.

Prior to joining Nutrition International, Dr. Raza held several senior leadership roles in Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, including serving as Deputy Director of Nutrition and Provincial Coordinator of the flagship Lady Health Worker program. In these roles she was instrumental in launching innovative initiatives such as the Sprinkles Initiative, aimed at combatting anaemia among Pakistani and Afghan infants. She also led the Health Sector Research & Reforms Unit, championing efforts to keep nutrition, reproductive health and family planning a priority on the Department of Health’s agenda.

Dr. Raza played a key role in shaping policy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, contributing to the province’s first Population Policy in 2015. Following the devolution of the federal Health & Population Ministries, she helped establish Joint Contraceptive Forecasting & Procurement Committees for both departments and developed the province’s Public Health Supply Chain Strategy 2017-22, ensuring the uninterrupted contraceptive and medicine supplies.

Her leadership and contributions to advancing public health and nutrition have been widely recognized. In 2024, Dr. Raza was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, where she oversees the implementation of the Movement’s 3.0 strategy. She also serves as the National Convener of both the SUN Civil Society Alliance Pakistan and the SUN Academia & Research Network Pakistan. Additionally, she is an active member of key national nutrition and health advisory platforms, including the Nutrition Advocacy Group under the National Nutrition Coordination Council and the National Nutrition Task Force at the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Raza holds a Master’s of Science in Tropical Pediatrics from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Khyber Medical College in Pakistan. She also earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Planning & Management from the University of Peshawar and a completed a certification in Health Sector Reform and Sustainable Financing from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the United States.