Sharmeela is an attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka and currently reading for her Doctorate in Law from the University of Colombo. She holds a Masters in Intentional Human Rights Law (LLM), a Post Attorney Diploma in Intellectual Property Law, a Post Graduate Diploma in Commercial Arbitration, and an honors degree in Biochemistry.
She is the incumbent Country Representative of UN WOMEN, Pakistan. Prior to her current post, she worked with UNDP, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in multiple leadership roles. She commenced her legal career in Sri Lanka and has served as the Head of the Human Rights Bureau at the Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka and as Legal Coordinator with the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.