Advocate for a gender just world for over five decades, Chandni Joshi receives the WOW Women Achievers lifetime achievement award

KATHMANDU: The WOW Women Achievers Award 2024, an annual event of the Media 9 group, was held at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu on March 4, 2024 where Deputy Speaker, Indira Rana Magar was the guest of honour.

Awards were presented in six categories. The honorees for 2024 were:

The Arts – Menuka Poudel, visually-impaired 26-year-old singer who has received significant popularity in shows like Nepal Idol and Indian Idol.

Leadership – Neera Adhikari, first blind person to be promoted to the post of under-secretary of the Nepal government. She is Director at the Department of Women and Children under the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens in Nepal, and Founder President of the Blind Women Association Nepal (BWAN).

Social Service/Activism – Bimala Shrestha Pokharel, Founder & CEO of Higher Ground Nepal, a certified John Maxwell Coach, Speaker and Trainer, and a strong advocate for social justice and mental health.

Entrepreneurship – Prakriti Mainali, Founder of a social enterprise called Shakti Milan Nepal and Founder of WISE, Women in Social Entrepreneurship. 

Inspiring Woman of the Year – Dr Sunnie Joshi, Data Scientist at the World Bank, Nepa. With research interests in mathematical modeling and simulation, machine learning, statistical methods and optimization.

Lifetime Achievement Award – Chandni Joshi, Gender, Rights and Policy Specialist; Enforcer of HomeNet South Asia; and Former Regional Director of UNIFEM - South Asia Regional Office

WOW magazine created this platform 2017 to celebrate and recognize the achievements of women leaders, change agents, enablers, and opinion makers. Every year, the event is held highlighting the theme of the International Women’s Day. This year the theme was Inspire Inclusion. 

This year's jury included Ashrayata Karki Chaudhary (Chairperson of Nepal Super League), Keki Adhikari (Actor and Producer), Dr. Shrujana Shrestha, (Consultant Dermatologist, Executive Director, Yeti Airlines), Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka (Head of Corprate Affairs and CSR, Ncell), Santoshi Rana (Founder of Bihani) and Dikila Lama (Managing Director, Himalayan Outdoor Gears).

Charu Chadha, Editor of Media 9, highlighted, “Every speech by a politician champions equality, inclusivity and equity. But we lack accountability and integrity in action. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. 

Dr. Ramji Ram, who against the odds of caste discrimination and poverty became a doctor and is currently a Medical Officer at Chandranigahpur Hospital, Rautahat gave the keynote address. He serves as an example of courage and resilience and what a person can achieve if they are determined to.

A panel discussion titled 'Power of One. Power of Choice. Power to Change' was held. The session was moderated by Amuda Mishra, Executive Director of Ujyalo Foundation and DEI coach. The panellists included Swastika Shrestha, CEO and Co-founder of Teach for Nepal; Saurav Rimal, Founder of Karmayog Foundation; Sarosy Neupane, a transgender model and Vice President of Sahashi Kadam Nepal; and Shristi Singh Shrestha, animal rights and environment activist.

The event concluded on a note of high energy with a performance by Meghna Gewali.

The WOW Women Achievers Award 2024 was supported by Ncell, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal, Honda Dio 125, WWF, Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank, Hyatt Regency, NIMB Ace Capital Limited, Britannia, Dabur Real, Tsubaki, NIBL Equity Partners, Select, Vyasa Media Network, Osti by Prakriti, and Khukri Rum.

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