Zarin Hainsworth OBE

Zarin set up the family business in 1997 - Serene Communications Ltd. Serene has a diverse client base including UN agencies, Government departments, Multi-nationals and small charities. It is a people empowerment social enterprise aiming to realize the potential of people within any organisation and specialises in helping organisations increase women’s empowerment. Impact Travels is a subsidiary providing eco- tourism.

Zarin was awarded the OBE for her work on women and equalities which includes work for widows, Maasai widows, young women and women and equalities generally. She is Chair of Widows Rights International and the Chair of the UK Civil Society Women’s Alliance. The latter is a coalition of the organisations based in the UK working with UN agencies for women and girls. It represents civil society to Government and works closely with the Government Equalities Office and other Government Departments working for women and girls. She is a company member of UN Women UK, Vice President NGO Committee on the Status of Women Geneva, Member of the NGO Committee on Human Rights Geneva, Trustee of Equally Ours and past Chair and Director and current Ambassador of the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations UK. She has been working within UN processes since 2000 and is a recognized expert on human rights for women and girls. Zarin founded Naserian, now a registered charity in Tanzania, for Maasai widows. It is run for and by Maasai widows.

Zarin has been active in civil society since her early teenage years and been involved in the establishment and development of numerous civil society initiatives that have continued to flourish since their inception. She has been engaged in youth activism for decades and established the NAWO Young Women’s Alliance in 2005 that remains active currently and enables young women and men to attend events at the UN and be fully engaged in UN processes becoming champions of equality of women and girls, men and boys and justice for all. In addition to working at the international and national levels, Zarin is also active locally with women’s, environment and community groups.

Zarin says, “’Let your vision be all-embracing’ and human beings are ‘a mine rich in gems of inestimable value’ are two quotations from the Baha’i Writings that continue to inspire me in all fields of endeavour.” Zarin is motivated by her faith as a Baha’i wishing to make real in the world concepts such as the oneness of humanity, equality and justice. She is married and a mother of 4 children, all now married, and is a grandmother of 8. She likes gardening, cooking, reading, painting and crafts.