About the speakers - 'Hold on a minute' Podcast, Episode 9

Upala Devi

Upala Devi is the Asia-Pacific Regional Gender and Human Rights Technical Adviser at UNFPA, based in Bangkok. With 22 years in the development field she has worked with most of the top organisations from UNDP to UNICEF, UN WOMEN, ILO and Save the Children Fund in the UK and Sweden. Ms Devi holds a Masters in Philosophy on South-East Asia and South-West Pacific Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
 
Upala has contributed extensively to various books, journals and policy papers on gender, gender-based violence, child rights, human rights and development. She has often spoken on issues of rights & development including at the US Department of State, US Senate and Harvard's John F Kennedy School.
 

Indira Pancholi

Indira Pancholi is a feminist-human rights activist and founder of ‘Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti’, a women-led organisation based in central Rajasthan, India.
 
Indira has closely worked with rural and urban women, children & adolescents for over 25 years. Her work includes all from grassroots action to training women leaders in local self-governments, and she seamlessly tackles all from social issues to advocacy, law and policy implementation programmemes. But her main area of specialisation is in promoting gender justice and social development and addressing violence against women, including child marriage. Indira has published extensively on sexual and reproductive health and rights and she holds a Master’s in Philosophy.