KARACHI, April 24: The senior journalist and environmental activist, Saneeya Hussain, who died on Wednesday last after remaining in coma for over a week, was laid to rest in the army graveyard on Sunday. Saneeya, 50, had gone into coma after suffering a severe asthma attack in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in the first week of April. Her husband, Luis P. Ferraz, had brought her body here from Brazil on Sunday morning for funeral prayers, held at the DHA Imambargah in the afternoon, and burial.
Soyem will be held at 106/III, Khayaban-i-Hilal, Street 25, Phase 6, DHA on Tuesday between Asr and Maghreb prayers.
While studying at Karachi University, Saneeya played very active role in the women’s rights movement in mid-’80s. She was also an active member of the Women’s Action Forum and other such organizations.
She started her journalistic career in early’80s when she joined an eveninger, The Star, and edited its magazine.
After a few years, she became one of the pioneers who joined the international conservation organization, the IUCN which had opened its office in Pakistan in mid-’80s.
Saneeya had also established a Journalist Resource Centre at the IUCN where information database regarding environment is being maintained. She helped and guided the journalists intending to write on the environmental issues in this field.
She also contributed to the preparation of the National Conservation Strategy from the IUCN’s side and brought out a newsletter which had later been turned into a periodical, appearing quarterly. An Urdu version of the periodical had also been brought out by her.
Saneeya joined the World Commission on Dams and moved to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1998, where she met Luis P. Ferraz. Later, she joined another international development organization, Panos South Asia, as its regional chief based in Kathmandu in 2002. She left Panos in 2004 and returned to Brazil.
Saneeya had donated her kidneys to two patients and gave them a new lease of life.
