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Kathmandu, Nepal

Manisha Thapa.

Public Health Practitioner SRHR Activist & Researcher Climate Advocate Visual Artist Solo Traveler · Storyteller

Advocating for rights, exploring the world, painting stories — one mountain at a time.

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ICFP Trailblazer '25
Artist Fellow
Manisha Thapa
Currently
WorkProgram Manager at Unity for Change
RecentBayer Scholar Award, Johns Hopkins 2025
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“

My work sits at the intersection of public health, lived experience, and storytelling. The focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights is shaped by working closely with communities where access, dignity, and autonomy are still deeply unequal. Through research, advocacy, and creative expression, the aim is to make public health more inclusive, visible, and grounded in real lives.

— A note on practice

About
"I believe in advocacy that is as bold as the mountains I climb."

Manisha Thapa is a young ecofeminist and licensed public health professional with 5+ years of experience in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), menstrual health, gender equality, climate justice, and adolescent health — working primarily in Nepal.

She currently serves as Program Manager at Unity for Change (UFC) in Kathmandu, where she leads menstrual rights and SRHR advocacy programs, including research on menstrual discrimination among transmen in Nepal. She also serves on the Board of CliMates Nepal as Empowerment Director.

A 2025 ICFP Youth Trailblazer Awardee recognized by the International Conference on Family Planning, she has contributed to multiple research publications, led USAID and SAAF-funded programs, represented youth voices across six provinces of Nepal, and participated in international fellowships and conferences across Asia and beyond.

She is a certified Abortion Artist Fellow (Make In Roads) and a Women of the South Speak Out (WOSSO) Fellow. Self-taught in the visual arts, she has performed as a live artist at Ministry of Health events and uses painting and storytelling as tools of advocacy. She is currently applying to MPH programs at US universities for Fall 2027.

5+ Years in Public Health ICFP Youth Trailblazer 2025 Abortion Artist Fellow WOSSO Fellow 2024–2026 IAS Conference Scholar 2025 6 Research Publications US Embassy Youth Council Member
Competencies

Skills & expertise

Capabilities spanning research, advocacy, and creative practice — built across field programs, policy rooms, and community halls.

01 / Public Health & Research

SRHR Program Design Qualitative Research Quantitative Research Policy Analysis Field Data Collection Report Writing Monitoring & Evaluation

02 / Advocacy & Leadership

Youth Advocacy Stakeholder Engagement Community Facilitation Public Speaking Volunteer Mobilization Event Hosting / Emcee

03 / Communication & Media

Content Creation (IG/TikTok) Health Communication Digital Storytelling Campaign Development English–Nepali Translation

04 / Creative & Artistic

Visual Art & Painting Sketching Narrative Writing Live Performance Art Creative Advocacy

05 / Tools & Technical

Microsoft Office Suite Google Workspace Canva Project Management
Impact & experience

Selected work

A curated timeline across research, advocacy, and field engagement — highlighting not just roles and outputs, but intent, impact, and learning behind each contribution.

2025 — Present

Board Member, Empowerment Director

CliMates Nepal · Kathmandu

Develops and oversees strategic empowerment initiatives for climate advocacy; ensures legal and regulatory compliance of the organization.

ClimateGovernance
2020 — Present

Program Manager

Unity for Change (UFC) · Lazimpat, Kathmandu

Leads menstrual rights and SRHR advocacy programs; manages research on menstrual discrimination among transmen in Nepal; coordinates project activities and stakeholder engagement across program cycles.

SRHRMenstrual HealthProgram Mgmt
2021 — 2025

Program Officer

Visible Impact (VISIM) · Basundhara, Kathmandu

Led USAID PACE Project on youth contraceptive discontinuation; directed four-year SAAF-funded YAAY project training 56 youth champions & 28 media fellows; led the #Youth4GenerationEquality campaign (UNFPA) securing four GoN commitments.

USAIDSAAFUNFPA
2022

Reproductive Health & Safe Abortion Rights Fellow

Forum for Women, Law and Development

Deepened expertise in legal frameworks around reproductive rights; contributed to policy advocacy on abortion decriminalization in Nepal.

LegalRights
2021 — 2022

Abortion Artist Fellow

Make In Roads — Artists Busting Abortion Stigma · USA

Selected as a fellow for using visual art to challenge abortion stigma; contributed to international network of artists and advocates working at the intersection of art and reproductive rights.

ArtStigma
2020 — 2021

Outreach & Communications Coordinator

Himalayan Climate Initiative · Budhanilkantha

Coordinated Green Fellowships with Local Government, supporting 55 fellows and 37 local governments during COVID-19; led social media campaigns and managed partnerships with 15 climate networks.

CommsPartnerships
Recognition

Awards & honours

2025

ICFP Youth Trailblazer Award

International Conference on Family Planning
2025

Bayer Scholar Award

Johns Hopkins University — Summer Institute
2021–22

Abortion Artist Fellow

Make In Roads — Artists Busting Abortion Stigma
2024–26

WOSSO Fellow

Women of the South Speak Out · ARROW / GenderLinks
2022

Dean's List Certification

Faculty of Health Sciences, Pokhara University
2024

Solo Traveler Award — Top 5 Female

Solo Female Travel Recognition
2023

US Embassy Youth Council Member

United States Embassy Youth Council Nepal (USYC)
Research & writing

Publications & policy

A growing body of research in SRHR, menstrual health, and climate — spanning peer-reviewed studies, policy briefs, and community-led inquiry rooted in Nepal's lived realities.

Research 2024

Menstrual discrimination among transmen in Nepal

Unity for Change · Principal researcher

Qualitative study surfacing the intersection of gender identity and menstrual stigma in urban and peri-urban Nepal.

Read study
Policy 2023

Youth contraceptive discontinuation — PACE project brief

USAID PACE · Visible Impact

Program brief distilling field findings and policy implications for Nepal's adolescent reproductive health ecosystem.

Read brief
Research 2023

#Youth4GenerationEquality — Advocacy outcomes report

UNFPA Nepal · Co-author

Documentation of four Government of Nepal commitments secured through a multi-province youth advocacy campaign.

Read report
Essay 2023

When advocacy is also art — Notes from a performance at MoHP

Personal essay

Reflections on live painting as an advocacy tool in formal public health settings, and what it changes in the room.

Read essay
Policy 2022

Abortion decriminalization in Nepal — A legal primer

Forum for Women, Law and Development

Overview of Nepal's legal framework on reproductive rights, written for youth organizers and advocacy practitioners.

Read primer
Research 2021

Climate & community: fellowship findings from 37 local governments

Himalayan Climate Initiative

Cross-site learning from the Green Fellowship cohort during COVID-19 — documenting what worked and what didn't.

Read findings
Talks & features

In conversation

Podcasts, keynotes, and features — click any thumbnail to play.

Climate, Rights & Resilience
  YouTube
Climate, Rights & Resilience — Adolescents and Youth Leading Change
Youth-led climate and SRHR advocacy, and the intersections of climate justice and reproductive rights.
Web's Most Searched Question on Abortion
  YouTube
Web's Most Searched Question on Abortion
Breaking abortion stigma through direct, evidence-based answers to the internet's most asked questions.
Inclusive SRHR
  YouTube
Inclusive SRHR: Bridging Gaps for Diverse Communities
A panel discussion on making sexual and reproductive health services accessible for marginalized communities.
Podcast
  YouTube
Podcast: SRHR, Advocacy & Youth Leadership
A conversation on youth-led advocacy, sexual and reproductive health rights, and building movements from the ground up.
ICFP 2025 Youth Trailblazer Award
  YouTube
ICFP 2025 Youth Trailblazer Award Winner
Recognition of Manisha Thapa at the International Conference on Family Planning 2025 as a Youth Trailblazer.
Missed Voices: Youth on the Frontlines of SRHR
  YouTube
Missed Voices: Youth on the Frontlines of SRHR
Highlighting innovative research and grassroots advocacy from young global experts addressing health equity, digital privacy, and sexual rights.
As seen in
ICFP 2025 IAS Conference WOSSO Fellow USYC Nepal Make In Roads
Solo travel & storytelling

Where the road teaches

Solo travel is a quiet form of research — it sharpens curiosity, humility, and the ability to listen. Since 2020, I've documented journeys across the Himalayas, South and South-East Asia, and beyond, sharing the cultures, the people, and the unspoken lessons a map can't hold.

The same questions I carry into policy rooms — about dignity, access, and who gets to be heard — follow me onto trains, trails, and tea-stalls.

5+Countries
5Himalayan treks
Top 5Solo female '24
Everest Trek
Everest TrekNepal
Rara
RaraNepal
Mardi Trek
Mardi TrekNepal
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M
Manisha Thapa
@manishathapa__
15K+Followers
340+Posts
5+Countries
#SRHR #SoloTravel #Art #Nepal #Advocacy
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Digital practice

A second classroom

Instagram is where I hold office hours with a different audience. Content creation — reels, carousels, live spaces — is a way to translate research into something a teenager in a village, a policymaker in Kathmandu, and a friend in Bali can all receive on the same scroll.

The work covers solo female travel, SRHR literacy, art process, and the small everyday beauty of life in Nepal. It's not a separate stream — it's the same advocacy, in a language the algorithm understands.

Tweaks