My very first question to her is about living as a woman in Pakistan and what might surprise others.

“I think what people might be most surprised about is the number of incredible people in Pakistan — as many dynamic women as there are in the west, you just have to know where to look. Honestly, a lot of it has to do with social class and what people see in the media,” she says. I ask her to elaborate. “Even with the young girl (Malala) recently getting a lot of press, shot for attempting to go to school — that is most definitely an exceptional case — it is not the norm by any means. However, a great deal of the disparity in young girls not getting educated is related to social class. In a lot of cases it is not something insidious (keeping girls out of school) it’s more about financial restraints — You keep the kids at home to help with the house work; it’s more a result of conditions families are living in than not.”

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We go on to talk with her at great length about her work with Pakistan Rising and Labour & Love…And circle back around to life as a Muslim woman in Pakistan:

Nuria with Labour & Love

“The women here are so strong, so amazing…My mother in law went to Harvard Law at age 40. I find in my circle of friends that women’s rights are always discussed. However, sometimes I get a bit irritated,” Nuria continues. “As a woman, you get a lot of attention here whether you want it or not. The attention acts like an infringement on my freedom. Men stare so much that one does not feel comfortable going alone.”

- It was such an honor to speak with her and I look forward to sharing her full chapter in the book!

- Arizona

-Pakistan

- Dubai

- Ethiopia

-Sri Lanka

- Maldives

** Stay tuned for more!

She now works as a Field Staff member for the Don Bosco NGO (Non-Governmental Organization). In her position, she interacts with HIV-positive children. Even though she has a job, she considers herself to be struggling – “to meet the growing expenses of the family; I have been supporting my family all alone.”

Shortly after Mala was married her mother died; then she lost her husband. After his death she also lost her only brother. “If I did not have my children I could have ended my life.” Again though, she remains hopeful: “The PATHAWAY program helped me in supporting a number of women and children like me in the community,” she says.

Part of that aloneness is a hard fact: “I am worried about the future of my children; nobody is there to take of my children. My husband, parents and siblings are no more.” Who will take care of her children if Mala does not live long enough to see them grown and with families of their own? This is a hard fact many of the women we have encountered in this project have probably not had to think about when it comes to turning 40. Mala is hoping to just make it to 40, and beyond at least a few years.

“When I thought about being 40, I thought it would be normal and I would be happy with my kids and husband. Due to HIV my future has become dark and I am really worried about the future of my children.” When asked about looking ahead to 50, her answer is very pragmatic: “I want to be healthy and financially strong to take care of my kids.”

7 billion reasons to empower women

Editor’s note: Ted Turner is the founder and chairman of the United Nations Foundation and the founder of CNN and Turner Broadcasting. He no longer plays an active role in CNN’s operations. He also founded and is the co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which seeks to reduce the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

(CNN) — The world’s population has more than tripled since I was born in 1938. On Monday, our world’s population is expected to hit the milestone of 7 billion people — up from 2.5 billion in 1950 — with almost all of the growth expected to happen in the cities of less developed countries. This means that the problems the world faced when I was a child are even more urgent now for my grandchildren.

If fertility rates continue at expected levels, the world’s population is likely to reach 10.1 billion in the next 90 years. Based on conservative estimates, the number of people in the world should pass 8 billion in 2023, 9 billion by 2041 and 10 billion at some point after 2081.

Just take a moment to think about that. By 2100, we could have nearly 50% more people on this planet than we did at the beginning of the century, competing for the same food, water, space and attention.

One of the best ways to ensure that the 7 billionth child born will live in a safe, healthy and sustainable world is to focus on what women want and need. Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute found there are 215 million women worldwide who want the ability to time and space their pregnancies, but do not have access to effective methods of contraception. Women want to be able to deliver children safely and provide for them.

World’s population reaches 7 billion

According to the World Health Organization, in developing countries, pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death among women in their reproductive years. In the developed world, one out of 4,300 women will die as a consequence of pregnancy. That number is one in 31 in sub-Saharan Africa, and a staggering one out of eight women dies giving birth in Afghanistan. The real tragedy is the fact that one-third of these deaths could be prevented if women had access to voluntary family planning.

Universal access to voluntary family planning is a cross-cutting and cost-effective solution to achieving all of the Millennium Development Goals. In addition to reducing maternal mortality, providing voluntary family planning methods and education enables young women to avoid early pregnancy, allows more girls to attend school longer, makes it possible for women to have fewer, healthier children and helps break the inter-generational cycle of poverty. Additionally, it would reduce HIV transmission, empower women to pursue income-generating activities in their communities and promote environmental sustainability.

Focusing on these needs is also a smart investment. There is no better value for the money than international family planning, which provides a higher return on investment than almost any other type of development assistance. Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute have found that providing quality reproductive health care and modern contraceptives to all women who want and need them reduces the cost of maternal and newborn care for each dollar invested, resulting in a net total savings of $1.5 billion.

Despite the low cost and many benefits of voluntary family planning, world leaders have not consistently made funding for these programs a priority. The current economic climate has forced Congress to take a long, hard look at its spending and rightly make some tough choices. However, far too often in this debate, the needs of women and children are the first items heaped onto the chopping block.

This year’s budget discussion has been no exception. Two of the most disturbing and shortsighted of the foreign aid budget cuts are those in funding for international family planning and the U.N. Population Fund. The fund is an agency focused on assisting governments in delivering quality sexual and reproductive health care — including voluntary family planning — throughout the life cycle of women across the globe who want and need it.

One of the smartest investments I ever made was my $1 billion gift to the United Nations, which led to the creation of the United Nations Foundation. The United Nations is the only institution with the international scale, reach and capacity to address today’s toughest challenges. If we want to ensure that we leave our children and grandchildren a safe and healthy world, then it is critical for world leaders to support the U.N.’s vital work on voluntary family planning and reproductive health for women across the globe.

The time is now. The investments we make today will shape the world we leave the next generation. If the United States wants to maintain its global leadership role, we must be thinking and making smart investments that will help us address both current and future responsibilities. The best way to do this is to listen to women and fund international family planning. Our future depends on it.