Rita Thapa, GFCF Board Chair, to receive 8th Annual Fairness Award

Congratulations to Rita Thapa on this deserved recognition!

The Global Fairness Initiative, an international NGO dedicated to improving the lives and livelihoods of the working poor, has announced that Rita Thapa, founder of Tewa – The Nepal Women’s Fund and current GFCF Board Chair, will be the recipient of the 8th Annual Fairness Award. This will be presented in Washington D.C. on May 17 2018, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Rita’s selection as the 2018 Fairness Award Honouree is in recognition of a career committed to creating more equitable, sustainable opportunities for vulnerable communities, particularly women. Through her work, Rita has succeeded in putting the power for change in the hands of Nepali people, and has amplified the voice of women to, in her words, “organize collectively, challenge systems, strengthen their leadership, and overcome injustice.” She is driven by a motivation to break the cycle of dependency on foreign assistance, and to lead a movement for locally-owned and financed development initiatives.

“The Fairness Award celebrates leaders like Rita Thapa who have given a voice to the invisible and enabled opportunity and justice for vulnerable and impoverished people everywhere. Rita exemplifies the best of what we can be when we put our common humanity first, and we are honoured to recognize her with the 2018 Fairness Award,” said Karen Tramontano, Founder of the Global Fairness Initiative.

The Fairness Award, established in 2010, is presented annually at a ceremony in Washington D.C. Honourees are nominated by a selection committee designated by the Global Fairness Initiative Board of Directors. Past honourees have included former heads of state, labour and human rights leaders, social entrepreneurs, CEOs and grassroots leaders from over a dozen countries and five continents.