Saahas Awards 2024

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The WISCOMP Saahas Awards 2024 recognize and celebrate the work of those who demonstrated resilience and initiative to build a vocabulary of peace and non-violence in the South Asian region. Individuals and organizations that foreground the 4 pillars of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Gender, Peace and Security—Participation, Protection, Prevention and Relief and Recovery—in their work were encouraged to apply. This included addressing multiple issues in areas of protracted conflict, such as gender-based violence; support to survivors of sexual violence; trauma healing; fostering dialogue and reconciliation; peace education initiatives; and rehabilitation of former combatants and forcibly displaced women.

About the Awards

Applications were invited under two categories from South Asia – from individuals – practitioners, media persons, educators, youth leaders, artists, civil society members and others who work with women to build peace at the grassroots, and organizations working on gender, peace and security in areas of protracted conflict. With this edition, Saahas Awards expands its footprints from India to the South Asian region.


We received over 50 applications from – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.  Applications from Assam, Bodoland Territorial Region, Cox Bazar, Gilgit, Islamabad, Kabul, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Lahore, Rajasthan, Srinagar, Thane and others represented work on diverse issues and wide-ranging methods.


The Review Process involved development of factsheets, in-depth interviews, background checks on each applicant and design of an online evaluation portal. A jury consisting of eminent experts screened and reviewed the submissions to finalize the awardees through face to face deliberations and online evaluation.

Saahas Shreshtha Award: Shero of Courage

Patricia Mukhim


Patricia Mukhim is a fearless journalist and peacebuilder from Shillong, renowned for her unwavering advocacy for gender equality, the rights of marginalized communities and her dedication to fostering communal harmony. Through her impactful work with The Shillong Times and her initiative She has been a beacon of resilience and a champion for justice in conflict-affected regions of North East India.

Saahas- e -Azim Award

Saeeda Diep is a peace activist and human rights advocate from Pakistan, championing the rights of religious minorities, especially Hindus through a gender lens. As the founder of the Centre for Peace and Secular Studies, her work bridges divides through cultural harmony and cross-border peacebuilding initiatives.

Ruchira Gupta is a globally renowned journalist, filmmaker, and activist from India, dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking and empowering women. As the founder of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, she leads grassroots movements addressing gender-based violence and advocating for systemic change.

Mossarat Qadeem is a peacebuilder and women’s rights activist from Pakistan pioneering initiatives to prevent violent extremism and foster community resilience. Through her organization PAIMAN Trust, she empowers women and radicalized youth in conflict zones to become agents of peace and reconciliation.

Beena Sarwar is a journalist, filmmaker, and peace advocate from Pakistan, committed to gender equality and fostering dialogue between India and Pakistan. Through initiatives like SAPAN and her impactful documentaries, she addresses critical issues of human rights, communal harmony, and social justice.

Saahas Shakti Award

Laxmi Chetri is a grassroots peacebuilder and gender justice advocate in Assam, India, empowering domestic violence survivors and marginalized women in the Bodoland Territorial Region. Through innovative methods to counter domestic violence in the camps, she has worked towards nurturing gender-just communities in the North eastern states of India.

 

Deepa Pawar is an activist from Maharashtra, India, advocating for the rights of women and girls from NT-DNT (Nomadic and De-notified Tribes). As the founder of Anubhuti Trust, she empowers marginalized communities through education, leadership training, and gender justice initiatives.

 

Champion Crusader fostering cultures of peace countering misogyny in Afghanistan

 

Champion Crusader advocating for the rights of indigenous , ethnic and religious minorities in Bangadesh

Saahas Chetna Award

Omar Hafiz is a peacebuilder and social activist from Kashmir, India, dedicated to empowering marginalized communities, especially Trans persons and other sexual minorities. As the founder of The STEAR, he creates safe spaces, challenges stereotypes, and promotes gender equality through innovative programs and youth-led initiatives.

Saahas Mashal Award

The Conflict Victim Women National Network (CVWNN) is a grassroots organization in Nepal that advocates for the rights of women affected by long years of insurgency and war in Nepal. Focused on transitional justice and gender-sensitive peacebuilding, CVWNN provides psychosocial support, legal aid, and leadership opportunities to women survivors of violence and marginalization through truth telling, memorialization and documenting of their stories.

To access previous Saahas Awards

Saahas Awards 2020

Saahas Awards 2016

Saahas Awards Jury 2024

Ambassador Shyam Saran is former Foreign Secretary of India and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Indo-US Civil Nuclear Issues and Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change. In his illustrious career as an Indian diplomat, he served as ambassador to Myanmar, Indonesia and Nepal and as High Commissioner to Mauritius. He served as Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board under the National Security Council (2013-15). After his superannuation in 2010, he headed the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a prestigious think tank focusing on economic issues. Currently, Ambassador Saran is President, Board of Trustees, India International Centre. In recognition of his contribution to civil services, Ambassador Saran was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2011. In May 2019, he was conferred the Spring Order Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan for promoting India-Japan relations.

Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya is Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Policy Research. As a member of the Indian Foreign Service, he served in various capacities in Indian Embassies and Missions in Mexico, Cuba, France, and the United Nations; the Ministry of Defence of India and as India’s Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar. He also re-opened the Indian Embassy in Kabul in November 2001 as Charge d’Affaires, after the ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan. An alumnus of the National Defence College of India, he has worked at the UN Headquarters in New York as a Consultant and as a Visiting Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC.

Honorable Justice Gita Mittal is former Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir. She was also acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. She has facilitated gender trainings for Judges and Magistrates across the country. She has been a senior arguing counsel for the Union of India in the Delhi High Court; Standing Counsel for the Delhi Development Authority; Standing Counsel and Legal Adviser for Delhi Jal Board and Bharat Scouts & Guides; and Special Counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Justice Mittal has worked with several not-for-profit initiatives in Delhi and other parts of India on the empowerment of women and the provision of medical aid and facilities.

Krishna Menon is Professor and former Dean, School of Human Studies, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi. Previously, she taught at the Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi for over two decades where she was the Director of the Aung San Suu Kyi Center for Peace. She serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals, including the International Feminist Journal of Politics. She has published books, papers and articles on debates within Political Theory, issues in Indian Politics, and Feminist Theory and Politics. Her recent publications include Doing Feminisms in the Academy (2020), Social Movements in Contemporary India (2019), Women and Political Process (2015); Human Rights, Gender and Environment (2009). She received the Teacher of Distinction award from the Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi in 2009.

Poonam Muttreja is the executive director of the Population Foundation of India (PFI). She has more than 35 years of experience in the socio-development sector. Before joining PFI, she worked with the MacArthur Foundation as Country Director where she was responsible for the Foundation’s grants in India. She also worked with UNDP as Advisor to the Country Representative. Ms. Muttreja has made an active contribution to the NGO sector in India. She is on the governing boards of several national and international organizations. She has founded organisations working in the area of social justice (SRUTI), craft (DASTKAR), and leadership (Founder Director of the Ashoka Foundation). She has also co-conceived the popular, transmedia initiative, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon (A Woman, Can Achieve Anything). Ms. Muttreja has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Delhi.

Susan Ferguson is Country Representative, UN Women, India. She has worked on international gender and development for over four decades. Ms. Ferguson joined UN Women in 2017, after a long career in international development. She has lived and worked in Philippines (Mindanao), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Timor Leste, South Africa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, among others. She has experience of working in grass roots development agencies; establishing and managing social services; and working within Local, State and Federal Government in Australia on social policy and social programmes. Her diverse career is spanned by the themes of gender equality and social justice. Ms. Ferguson is a national of Australia and holds a Master’s degree in International and Community Development. 

Rajiv Mehrotra has been a student of His Holiness for forty years. He travelled with His Holiness for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and helped establish the Foundation with the prize money. He serves as its Secretary & Trustee.

He was educated at St Stephen’s College and the Universities of Oxford and Columbia. He has authored nine books that have been published in more than 50 editions and languages. These include Mind of The Guru, Thakur-a Biography of Sri Ramakrishna and The Essential Dalai Lama. As an independent documentary filmmaker, commissioning editor and producer, Rajiv Mehrotra has won 32 National Awards in 34 years from the President of India. He serves as the Managing Trustee of The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, winning more than 300 awards worldwide from over 1,700 film festival selections.

For decades, he was a familiar face as an anchor on public television in India. He was nominated a Global Leader for Tomorrow by The World Economic Forum at Davos where he twice addressed plenary sessions. He is frequently invited to talk about His Holiness, on Buddhism, inter-faith harmony and issues related to the media. Rajiv Mehrotra has served on numerous Committees and Boards. He was a Judge for the Templeton Prize for Religion.

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Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath is the Founder and Director of WISCOMP. She is Chair, Board of Governors, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), and Principal Emerita of Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, where she served as Principal for 26 years (1988-2014). She has been a member of the Advisory Board on the Planning Commission of India and the University Grants Commission. Dr. Gopinath was the first woman to be nominated to the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) of India. She is a member of multi-track peace initiatives and people-to-people dialogues in South Asia. She serves on numerous Boards including the United Nations Peace University in Costa Rica, the Geneva-based Nonviolent Peaceforce, Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, among others.

Dr. Gopinath has written and lectured across the world on issues of Conflict Transformation, Peacebuilding, Women’s Leadership, Education for Peace, International Relations and Diplomacy. She serves on the governing boards of prominent research institutes, NGOs and educational institutions and has developed programs and curricula on educating for peace in several universities, colleges and schools. In recognition of her contribution to the field of women’s education and empowerment, she has received several awards including the Padma Shri Award from the President of India; Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Award; Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Education; among others. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree by La Trobe University, Australia; the Distinguished Alumna Award by Lady Shri Ram College for Women, for meritorious contribution in the field of Education; and the Nirbhaya Puraskar 2017 by OYSS Women (Odisa Yuva Sanskrutik Sansad) for exemplary courage and accomplishment in the field of Education.

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Seema Kakran is Deputy Director at WISCOMP with over two decades of experience of designing gender trainings and conducting research on issues of inclusion and diversity. A specialist in public policy analysis, political theory and evaluation methodologies, she holds a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy Analysis from University of Nebraska – Lincoln. She has also attended courses in Evaluation Methodology at INCORE, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and Gender Evaluation Methodology and Participatory Evaluation Training of Community of Evaluators (A South Asia Network). Seema has previously taught Political Science at the University of Delhi and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, USA. She has completed pre-doctoral work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and holds M.Phil and Masters’ degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Delhi. Her research focuses on gender equality and socio-political conflicts in India.

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Manjri Sewak is Assistant Director of WISCOMP, currently on sabbatical pursuing a PhD in Education for Peace at the Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She has been associated with WISCOMP since its inception in 1999. A writer and trainer in the field of peacebuilding, Manjri holds expertise in conflict transformation and curriculum development. In 2004–5, she was part of a team that designed a Diploma Program in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, where she later served as a Visiting Faculty. Manjri has conducted peacebuilding workshops for university and school students across the country. She is the author of Multi-Track Diplomacy between India and Pakistan: A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Security (2005), Bridging the Divide: Peacebuilding for a New Generation (2014), and co-author of Transcending Conflict: A Resource Book on Conflict Transformation (2003).

Manjri is a recipient of the RCSS-NTI Research Award and the Fulbright Conflict Resolution Scholarship. She holds a Masters’ degree in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, USA, and a Bachelors’ degree in Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College for Women.

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Sumona DasGupta is a Political Scientist, independent Researcher and a Senior Visiting Fellow with Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). She is a Member of Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata, and the Chair of International Advisory Group at International Conflict Research Institute, University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. She has written extensively on conflict transformation, critical security studies, governance and politics in South Asia, particularly on Jammu and Kashmir and gender issues as a cross-cutting theme.

Dr. DasGupta was a Visiting Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2014 and Lead Researcher for PRIA on the European Union Research Project on Cultures of Governance and Conflict Resolution in Europe and India. Previously, she served as Assistant Director at WISCOMP.

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Dr. Mallika Joseph is a Senior Fellow at WISCOMP. She serves as Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Sciences (NIAS), Bangalore and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. Until recently, she served as Policy Adviser and Regional Coordinator for the Asia Pacific at The Hague-based Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). Before that, she was a Professor and Head at the Department of National Security Studies, Central University of Jammu. Earlier, she was the Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Sri Lanka, and the Director of the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS).

She is part of many global and regional networks working on sustainable development goals, gender, security sector, human security, conflict prevention, regional architectures, and global governance. She has a Ph.D. in international relations and has worked on various issues relating to South Asian security. Some of her recent books/edited volumes include – Rise of China and India: Implications for the Asia Pacific; India’s Economic growth: Opportunities and Challenges for the Region; Demography in South Asia: Implications for the Regional and Global Political Narratives; and Reintroducing Human Security in South Asia. Her latest book is South Asian Perspectives on Sustainable Development and Gender Equality (2021). She is currently working on an edited volume on “Framing Democracy: Civil Society Perspectives from South Asia.”

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Nilova Roy Chaudhury is a senior journalist with over three decades of experience working as a Reporter, Writer, Analyst and Editor with some of the world’s leading print news publications, including The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, the Yomiuri Shimbun, the Hindustan Times, the Statesman and the Associated Press, among others. She founded The Indian Review of Global Affairs, an online foreign policy news magazine, and was its Chief Editor for five years. Part of that tenure was with the Symbiosis International University’s School of International Studies, to whom the web magazine was co-opted, as a special resource for its students. She helped set up the SSIS, and has taught and mentored students in some aspects of foreign policy. She is a Senior Visiting Fellow at WISCOMP and has actively engaged in initiatives on Journalism and Peace-Building.

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Shilpi Shabdita is Program Officer at WISCOMP where she handles programs on Conflict Transformation, Gender Justice and Education for Peace. She has a Masters’ degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, USA, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding from Lady Shri Ram College, India. Previously, she worked at Heartland Alliance, USA on migration issues, and consulted with Afghan’s for Progressive Thinking, Afghanistan on project design and grant writing for youth-led dialogue initiatives. Shilpi has also worked in Uganda at the Justice and Reconciliation Project, where she collated a ‘Community Memory Book’ documenting war memories and justice needs of former combatants and survivors of war; led campaigns for families of disappeared persons; and authored USAID reports on regional reconciliation.

Previously, Shilpi served as a Consultant at WISCOMP working on the ‘Education for Peace’ initiative with youth leaders and educators from New Delhi and Kashmir, which focused on inter-regional dialogue, conflict transformation skill building, and collaborative peace projects.

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Diksha Poddar has been working with WISCOMP on its programs on youth and peacebuilding, youth countering violence, and engendering higher education spaces. Currently, she is working towards the third edition of WISCOMP Saahas Awards on women building peace at the grassroots in South Asia. Diksha is also a Research Scholar at the Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she is studying the contours of youth, arts and peacebuilding in conflict areas for her doctoral thesis. Her interest lies within the intersecting themes of gender, youth, creative arts and peacebuilding. Her recent publications include a review article titled 'Youth and Arts: Experiments, Synergies and Critiques' in Journal of Applied Youth Studies (2024); a chapter on 'Youth and Peacebuilding' in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict (3rd ed., 2022); and a co-authored book chapter titled 'Piecing up Peace in Kashmir: Feminist Perspectives on Education for Peace' in Feminist Solutions to Ending War (ed.), Pluto Publications: London (2021), among others. She has presented her research at several national and international conferences organized by German Association for Conflict and Peace Studies; Nordic Youth Research Symposium at Tampere University, Finland; International Feminist Journal of Politics; and others. Diksha holds an MPhil from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; a Masters in Development Studies from Ambedkar University, Delhi and has completed her graduation in Economics and Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi. In addition, she has completed post-graduate diplomas in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding from University of Delhi and International Law, Institutions and Diplomacy from Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi.

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Kiran Koshy is Administrative officer at WISCOMP. He has over a decade of experience in Healthcare, Pharma and Digital Media. He has worked with Caritas India for an Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction Project at Rukem Peo, Himachal Pradesh and with the Association of Sisters of Destitute at Jivodaya Hospital, Delhi. Kiran has a Masters’ degree in Business Administration from Sikkim Manipal University and a Bachelors’ degree in Commerce from Mahatma Gandhi University.

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Sree Kumari is Executive Assistant at WISCOMP for the last 16 years. Previously, she worked as a Primary School Teacher and Head Librarian at the Kerala Education Society, Delhi. She is a poet and a short story writer in Malayalam. Sree holds a Bachelors’ degree in Chemistry and Library Sciences.

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Akashleena Chakrabarti is an Program Associate at WISCOMP where she curates sessions for the virtual Book Café series and facilitates interactive spaces of dialogue for young scholars, academicians and practitioners. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Political Science and a Diploma in Conflict Transformation and Peace Building from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, and a Masters’ degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi. Akashleena’s research interests lie at the intersection of political theory, pedagogy and performance studies.

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