Zubeida Mustafa is a Karachi-based journalist who worked as Assistant Editor for the English Daily Dawn from 1975 till her retirement in 2009. She wrote editorials and articles on the social sector after extensive research on education, health, women, children, and population. Earlier, from 1962 till 1969, Zubeida Mustafa worked as a Research Officer in the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs in Karachi.

She is the author/editor of several books, including The SUIT Story: Making the 'Impossible' Possible, The South Asian Century, and For Life, Peace and Justice (by Maisoon Hussein).

In 2012, Zubeida Mustafa won the International Women's Media Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also the receipent of the Global Media Award for Excellence in Population Reporting for 1986 and 2004, presented by the Population Institute, Washington, DC. She contributes a weekly column to Dawn and her writings are reproduced worldwide on the web.