Mandira Paul

Mandira is a technical analyst in the Sexual and Reproductive Health branch at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Prior to this she worked with UNFPA in Lao PDR for two years where she focused on adolescent and youth programming and research as well as policy advice.

Mandira holds a PhD in Medicine with a focus on delivery of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in low-resource settings. The thesis won the Gemzell award in 2017 for most impactful SRH research. She has nine years of experience working on SRH and rights, almost six of them in the field in Mozambique, Uganda, India and most recently in Lao PDR. She also volunteered in Nigeria and Sweden as a sexuality educator and an advocate for women’s rights.

In her current position at UNFPA Headquarters in New York she works primarily on Adolescents and Youth. She is coordinating the Global Programme to End Child Marriage in 12 countries across the globe, the data task force within the Compact on Young people in Humanitarian Action, and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Information. Working in the adolescent and youth portfolio allows her to explore non-traditional partnerships and means of interacting with young people.

Before working within the field of public health, she worked as a professional dancer and she continues to engage and empower young people through dance.