The Foreign Service Journal, December 2018

82 DECEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Combating Gender-Based Violence in Karachi THE MARK PALMER AWARD FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEMOCRACY DAVID BARGUEÑO AFSA NEWS For his outstanding work countering violence against women and girls, David Bar- gueño was selected as a win- ner of the 2018 Mark Palmer Award for the Advancement of Democracy. Inspired by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in the United States, David Bargueño leveraged his role as political officer in Karachi to counter violence against women and girls in Pakistan. Leading a yearlong series of human rights roundtables, he dramatically expanded the mission’s contact base among women and diverse religious communities, whose insights he incorporated into analytical pieces briefed to senior leadership in the State Department, cabinet-level officials and the U.S. presi- dent. To increase public aware- ness of gender issues more broadly, he also created and spearheaded an innovative campaign called “Karachi Champions Combating Gen- der-Based Violence,” which rallied members from across the consulate community. For this particular initia- tive, local and American staff interviewed Pakistanis work- ing to promote and defend women’s rights in Karachi’s schools, hospitals, police stations, nongovernmental organizations and in the Sen- ate of Pakistan. Mr. Bargueño and his colleagues filmed these interviews on their iPhones and, after profes- sional editing by a local firm, they shared 16 videos on the “16 days of activism against gender-based violence” from Nov. 25 until Dec. 10. As the videos went viral on social media, the campaign helped to publicize resources for victims of gender-based violence, raising awareness of GBV among the public and empowering Pakistani women to speak about their own experiences. Building on the momen- tum of the campaign, activ- ists in Karachi later organized a women’s march, and men and women approached con- sulate staff to ask how they, too, could become “Karachi Champions.” Coordinating across sec- tion and agency lines, Mr. Bargueño designed follow-up exchange programs to the United States, for which he recruited and successfully nominated female candi- dates. Marines led women’s self-defense courses in the consulate, and Mr. Bargueño helped organize in-house art exhibits to engage with women artists and girls who had never before engaged with Americans, let alone visited the consulate. Mr. Bargueño hopes the Karachi campaign, which was written up in the March edition of State Magazine , empowers others to take a stand against gender-based violence, regardless of their gender, job description or where they are stationed in the world. David Bargueño is an FSO currently serving in the politi- cal section of Embassy Pre- toria. He previously served in Pakistan, Brazil and in the Secretary of State’s Office Nothing would have happened without our team. I took risks in Karachi, and I needed motorpool, diplomatic security, local staff, colleagues and leadership to take those risks with me. —David Bargueño, in his acceptance speech on Oct. 10. of Global Food Security in Washington. His short-term assignments include Mozam- bique, Vietnam and Peru. Mr. Bargueño holds a bachelor’s degree from the WoodrowWilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton Univer- sity and a master’s degree from Yale University. n COURTESYOFDAVIDBARGUEN͂O AFSA EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE AWARDS