Inspirational and Courageous Women of Nepal

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Zonta Club of Kathmandu celebrated their annual ‘Yellow Rose Day on March 7, to honour ‘Inspirational and Courageous Women’ for their achievements regardless of their circumstances.

The award ceremony was supported Nabil Bank, Byanjan - a premium food brand by Nimbus, Star Hospital Ltd, Toni and Guy and Golchha Group. The event was organised at Soaltee Hotel Kathmandu.

On the Yellow Rose Day 2021, 12 exemplary women from all walks of lives were honoured. The awardees shared their journeys of how they succeeded in breaking the glass ceiling. Sharing and rejoicing the stories of such empowering women has undoubtedly made a difference in society and serves as an immense source of encouragement to all the women in the country. 

Zonta Club Kathmandu award categories and awardees for this year are as follows:

Princess Helen Shah Award: SSP Kiran Bajracharya, who fought against human and girl trafficking

Amar Rana Game Changer Award: Shristi KC, founder of Blind Rocks

Ratna Devi Award: Covid Heroes 

• WHR (Representative: Lily Thapa): WHR (Women for Human Rights, Single Women Group) have done a lot of volunteering during COVID times.

• Ayushma Rana Yakthumba: She’s been supporting families in need during COVID times by supplying basic needs such as food and medicines especially to new mothers and their newborn babies

Jyoti Scholarship Award:

• JMK: Suprima Poudel who has published a thesis on ‘Impact of Credit risk on performance of A and B class institutions’ in Journal of Nepal – NRB Economic Review

• Women in Tech: Melisha Gimire who is Managing Director at Girls in Tech Nepal and Programme Manager at Women in Big Data SEA Region

Indrakala Scholarship Award

• YWPA: Sanskriti Phuyal who works for the mission of ‘Sports in Equality’ and conducts sports for girls at school

• Women in Space: Reja Thapa who discovered main belt asteroids during 2019-2020 through All-Nepal Asteroids Search Campaign.

Similarly, Zonta Club of Kathmandu awarded Rs 35,000 each supported by Nabil Bank to four other women under the title of Unsung Heroes as an appreciation for their extraordinary work that has helped to shape the attitude of the society towards women. They have been inspiring and working against the odds. These women are working in sectors, which are traditionally male dominated. It was an honour to recognise and appreciate these courageous women who are inspiration on their genre of work.

• Sakuntala Kumari Budha: 15-year-old girl who successfully ran a campaign against Chhaupadi Pratha in Kalikot to fight against age-old rituals where girls are kept in a small hut separately during menstruation 

• Sumitra Shrestha: First female lady plumber and working since 13 years in Jorpati area

• Sahanshila Sharma Jha: First female priest for Annapurna Temple in Ason who was appointed a month ago

• Radhika Thapa: First female army personnel to complete Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare Training

Zonta International, founded in 1919, is a leading global organisation of professionals, empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. It envisions a world in which women’s rights are recognised as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential. In such a world, women have access to all resources, are represented in decision-making positions on an equal basis with men and no woman lives in fear of violence.