Roma Riaz, Miss Universe Pakistan 2025, has been appointed national director of Miss Universe Pakistan (Geo News).
The appointment was announced in the Philippines, alongside the crowning of her successor Misbah Arshad, who will represent Pakistan at the 75th Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico later this year.
What she said
“I’m incredibly humbled, grateful and honoured to officially be announced as the National Director of Miss Universe Pakistan,” Riaz wrote in a post on Instagram.
“To have the opportunity to continue serving this organisation and, most importantly, to help shape the journey of the women who will carry Pakistan onto the global stage is a responsibility I will never take lightly.”
She described it as “a chapter I’m incredibly excited to build with you”, and thanked the mentors she credited with supporting her.
Riaz also thanked franchise owner Josh Yugen, the outgoing national director, for his confidence in her: “A huge, heartfelt thank you to Josh Yugen for believing in me, trusting me and giving me the opportunity to continue being part of something I care so deeply about.”
The transition
The move takes Riaz from titleholder to the person who selects and prepares titleholders, one year after she held the sash herself.
Pakistan’s participation in Miss Universe is recent — the country made its debut only in 2022 — and the franchise has operated from outside Pakistan, with the national final held abroad. That arrangement has drawn criticism from those who argue a Pakistani national title should be contested in Pakistan, and defence from those who point out that the practical alternative has been no participation at all.
A national director who is herself a former Pakistani titleholder is the first structural change to that arrangement.
Misbah Arshad now goes forward to Puerto Rico.
