Founder and Chairperson of Prisoners Assistance Nepal, Indira Rana Magar, will be on a Speaking Tour of the UK in September 2019 and is available to speak in Coventry from 2 to 8 September. If you want her to speak to your society or community please contact Dr Chas Morrison at ab1224@coventry.ac.uk as soon as possible.

PA Nepal has been providing basic needs and promoting human rights of prisoners and their children since 2000. Its mission is to rid prisons of unnecessary suffering and hardship, in particular that experienced by innocent children and prisoners who are poor and disadvantaged.

Indira is a dynamic and committed social worker and social entrepreneur and has worked since 1990 on behalf of prisoners. Under her leadership, PA Nepal has become a formidable force advocating for prisoners, their families and children. It provides residential care and runs programmes for prisoners and educational programmes for children.

Indira was one of three finalist nominees for the 2014 World’s Children Prize and was awarded the World’s Children’s Honorary Award by Queen Silvia of Sweden for protecting the rights of incarcerated mothers with children. She was selected from amongst hundreds of candidates as a top three finalist along with Malala Yousafzai and John Wood, and was honored at the World’s Children’s Prize ceremony in Stockholm. She has been awarded various honorary awards including Ashoka Fellow 2005, Asia 21 Young Leader Public Service Award 2009, BBC 100 Women around the World 2017, Rotary Vocational Excellence Award 2017 and many more at national level.

PA Nepal has 16 children’s homes along with 4 daycare centers at different prisons, and a capacity building and life enhancement training center. It runs 3 daycare programs and an Adult Literacy School in female prisons. To date, PA Nepal has socially reintegrated over 1600 children who were in prison with their parents. The organisation also supports 250 children of incarcerated parents who are living with their relatives across the country.

In 2007 Indira was elected to the position of chairperson of the Network of Children, Prisoners and Dependents (NCPD). She is a committee member of the Peace Education Conference for the UN Decade of Peace in Nepal. She was selected as a delegate at the Asia 21 Young Leader Summit in Singapore and at the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) conference in Thailand where she spoke on improving conditions for prisoners. As an Ashoka fellow she was invited to the International Bridge to Justice Organisation in Geneva. Indira was voted the top Social Entrepreneur in Nepal in a national poll in 2010. Her work has continued to develop, including new initiatives like sustainable agricultural projects and community resource facilities, and new enterprises to involve college level children.