Saki Thapa

Saki Thapa serves as the Advocacy, Networking, and Resource Mobilization Manager at BNMT Nepal. With a strong focus on project designing and grants application, she has demonstrated remarkable success in securing funds for numerous impactful initiatives. Notable among these are Health Link funded by UK aids, Enhancing Community Health funded by the Big Lottery Fund, Health Facilities Reconstruction and Health Service Strengthening I & II funded by AmeriCares, TB REACH Wave 5, Adolescents SRHR project funded by AmplifyChange, Project Horizon funded by BNMT UK, as well as the Global Fund projects 2017-2018 and 2018 to 2021. She has also contributed writing the projects – SUSTAIN: Emergency support and Sustenance to communities affected by crisis funded by AmeriCares, and COVID Kurakani, a supplement of COVID gene sequencing project, Epidemic Intelligence.

With an MSc in Public Health from the esteemed Berlin School of Public Health, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany, Saki has taken the lead in successfully implementing three Sexual and Reproductive health and Rights projects (AmplifyChange, Butterfly, Project Horizon) in rural Sindhupalchowk, Nepal. She has also spearheaded the Research, Evidence and Development Initiative (READ-It) project, focusing on evidence synthesis tailored to national gaps; and the Breaking the Stigma project, which explores the feasibility and acceptability of self-sampling for HPV as an alternative method for cervical cancer screening. Additionally, Saki holds a master’s degree in Health Care Management from Pokhara University, Nepal.

As a valuable member of the senior management team, Saki has played a key role in the development of organizational policies, policy briefs, project briefs, reports, storybooks, and IEC/BCC materials. She has also contributed significantly to the strategic planning of BNMT, shaping the organization’s vision and direction in the strategic plan for 2020-2025.

SWASTIKA SHRESTHA

Swastika Shrestha is a graduate with a Masters degree in Global Health from the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin. She works as Research Officer in the project, Breaking the Stigma: An alternative approach to cervical cancer screening in Nepal.

Having had a couple of years of clinical experience as a dental surgeon, she developed an interest in the field of public health after which she pursued her Masters in the same field. Her previous experience of working in university hospitals piqued her interest in research driven tasks. Her areas of interest in research revolve around infectious and non-infectious diseases, sexual and reproductive health and she also likes exploring various social determinants of health. She enjoys working with and learning from people from different walks of life.