Dr. Rita Thapa Professor of Equity & Empowerment (Public Health)

❝I have a single uptake from my entire career trajectory, which I call empowerment. I believe, empowering the powerless brings real changes. Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs), that I had initiated early on as a pilot study in Nepal, is a case in point. Initially, empowered with a few basic maternal-child health and family planning technologies, FCHVs blossomed into a nationwide network contributing to Nepal’s achieving 2015 MDGs in child and maternal health.

I envision that enabling process makes people more confident in making life choices and asserting their rights, thus generating a more equal social order.❞