Bandana Rana is a leading advocate of women’s rights and gender equality in Nepal. In June 2016, she became the first Nepali to be elected as expert member to the United Nations Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee, one of 23 experts on women’s issues from around the world.
Her work has won her international awards including Woman of Distinction Award by the UN NGO Committee on the Status of Women in New York for her outstanding leadership, profound commitment and exceptional contribution towards advancement of women locally and globally. In a career spanning over three decades, she has worked at national, regional and global level, leading advocacy, research and public outreach and community mobilisation programs. She has dedicated herself in areas including gender equality, gendered conflict transformation, peace building and engendered media particularly through two organisations she co-founded: Saathi and Sancharika Samuha.
A former chair of National Women’s Commission of Nepal, Ms Rana was the key architect of Nepal’s National Action Plan on the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women Peace and Security with the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction.