Neha Mankani, a Pakistani midwife, has been selected the 2023 “Woman of Courage” by the American mission in Islamabad, the US embassy announced on Monday as it celebrated March as Women’s History Month in Islamabad.
One of the initiatives by the American embassy in Pakistan to promote women and girls in Pakistan across sectors like education, health, and economic empowerment is the Woman of Courage award.
The Mama Baby Fund was started in 2019 by Mankani, a Fulbright alumnus who received funding from the US to support new moms who couldn’t afford prenatal and postnatal care. Since then, she has performed a lot of work in the area.
Neha represents leadership, courage, and fortitude, and we’re thrilled to see one of our Fulbright Program graduates making such a significant contribution to her country, the US embassy reported Deputy Mission Head Andrew Schofer as saying in a statement.
In Sindh, one of the Pakistani provinces worst hit by last year’s catastrophic floods, Mankani and her team visited internally displaced person camps to offer prenatal care and materials to ensure safe deliveries.
She claimed that the community-based and emergency response activities of her foundation were designed to help pregnant women and new mothers in at-risk areas.
“It is very evident that climate change and complex events affect women and children very differently in all of the climate-affected communities I have worked in, from the coastal islands of Karachi to displaced flood-affected people in Sindh and Balochistan,” Mankani said.
“Imagine all of the vulnerabilities of being pregnant, in labor, or postpartum, having a newborn, and add to that displacement, a struggling health system, food insecurity and being away from your community. The Mama Baby Fund emergency response and our community-based programs are centered around these gaps.”
She also expressed her gratitude to the US embassy for continuing to raise awareness of the post-flood humanitarian needs and for providing assistance to flood-affected areas.
