| Name | Anuradha Koirala |
|---|---|
| Nick name | Dijju |
| Birth date | 14 April 1949 |
| Birth place | Rumjatar, Okhaldhunga, Nepal |
| Known as | Mother Teresa of Nepal |
| Occupation | Social Activist |
| Affiliations | Founder of Maiti Nepal Nepal Congress Party |
| Awards | CNN hero 2010 Padma Shri 2017 |
Ms. Koirala was honored as CNN Hero of the year 2010 and has won many international and national honors for her work. Her effort has brought a huge change in society. The girls trafficking rate has substantially reduced and the government now recognizes 5th September as an anti-trafficking day. She was also appointed as former assistant state minister of women’s children and social welfare in an honor of her contributions.
EARLY LIFE
Anuradha Koirala was born on 14 April 1949. She was born as the first child to Colonel Pratap Singh Gurung and Laxmi Gurung. She belonged to an educated family and therefore, pursued her education at St.Joseph Convent School. She says, mother and sister in her school motivated to do social work and regards Mother Teresa as her huge inspiration. She spent her 20 years teaching in schools in Kathmandu.
Ms.Koirala was married at a very young age. But, her relationship did not work well as she suffered from domestic abuse from her husband. She believed the domestic abuse was the sole reason she had to miscarry her baby three times. She felt hopeless and tortured each time. So, She left her husband. She had nowhere to go. The only place where a woman, in that situation, thinks to go is “Maiti ”.But unfortunately, some women are even thrown out from Maiti. That’s when Anuradha felt a need for an organization that would support and shelter those women.
MAITI NEPAL AND ITS EXISTENCE
It was April 1993, Anuradha Koirala started ” Maiti Nepal” in a small house in Kathmandu with her own savings. Maiti Nepal refers to ” Mother’s home “.With aim of empowering women and saving them from Domestic violence and trafficking, Maiti Nepal was born. Koirala, with her own income, initially started up the organization and helped eight women, who were victims of domestic violence, open their own shop and be independent. The network grew and UNICEF decided to support the organization. This is how Maiti Nepal grew from small house organizations to multi-network/branch organizations.
Maiti Nepal now has various branches and a wide range of services. Its vision is a society free of sexual and other types of exploitation against children and women. It has been actively working on making their vision/goal come true. It is conducting various activities including social awareness, counseling, participation, skill development, women empowerment, etc. It saves girls from being trafficked and also saves trafficked girls from brothels in India. After saving them, as they are not accepted in their own dogmatic society, Maiti Nepal shelters them and counsel them, give them new life.
Koirala says, her organization has been giving an impact on society and she’s happy to bring some change in the society from her side. She also says her happiest day will be when Maiti Nepal ceases its existence as it will be the day, society will be free from human trafficking and domestic violence.
ANURADHA KOIRALA’S AWARDS
Anuradha Koirala has been awarded 38 national and international awards for her contribution to society. Here are some of the awards received by Anuradha Koirala :
- Best Social Worker of the Year Award in 1998
- Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu Medal (Nepal) in 1999
- Trishakti Patta Award in 2002
- The courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey Foundation in 2006
- German UNIFEM Prize in 2007
- Queen Sofia Silver Medal Award in 2007
- CNN Hero Award in 2010
- Mother Teresa Awards in 2014.
- Padma Shri in April 2017 by president Pranab Mukherjee.
INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICS
Anuradha Koirala joined Nepali Congress in November 2017. She stated that economic development and prosperity were only possible in the democratic alliance. So, She joined the party with the hope to strengthen the democracy in the country.She assured to secure the rights of every woman, Dalit, Madhesis, and marginalized community.
She was appointed as the first provincial governor of the Bagmati Pradesh from 17 January 2018 to 3 November 2019 by the Government of Nepal.
LESSER KNOWN FACTS ABOUT ANURADHA KOIRALA
- She studied in Kalimpong, India.
- She was married at a young age and her relationship didn’t work out due to his abusive husband.
- She has a son named Manish Koirala.
- She is the first governor of Bagmati Province.
- She joined the Nepali Congress party in 2017.
- She takes Mother Teresa as her inspiration.
