It’s my privilege to have this opportunity to be the youngest ever chairperson of FPAN, the oldest and largest NGO working for sexual and reproductive health rights. More than that, I feel responsible to do things differently and convince others that the young generation is capable enough to take organizational leadership with good governance.
How long have you been associated with FPAN?
I’ve been associated with FPAN since 12 years. I joined as a volunteer then worked as a peer educator. I served this reputed organization as a youth member for eight years and then as a central committee member for three years. Now, it has been just a year since I got elected as its chairperson.[break]
How do you manage to lead such a big organization?
Being the chairperson of the organization, my focus is on good governance, transparency, and accountability. In FPAN, we have a dedicated team of central committee, 11,000 unpaid volunteers, 500 full time paid staff and thousands of semi-paid and part time volunteers who have been supporting me and my family members.
What does leadership mean to you?
For me, leadership means a combination of visionary goal with belief, commitment and sincere dedication. Good leaders are made not born. If you’ve the desire, willpower and belief in teamwork, you can become an effective leader. I also tell my staff to believe in teamwork. Good leaders should continually work and learn to improve their leadership skills.
Being a woman has it been difficult to lead the organization?
It’s always a challenge to be a good leader. I have always believed in myself more as a human than as a woman. I never thought that women cannot be good leaders. Nevertheless, I admit that women will definitely face more challenges than men as we live in patriarchal society. It’s difficult for women because we have other responsibilities like taking care of our families and households.
How do you describe the present state of FPAN?
We have a very
conducive work environment at FPAN. We’re very strong now as we have a good management team in place with a strong Director General compared to the past. During my initial days, FPAN was passing through a crisis. It’s not anymore.
What kind of crisis?
FPAN had not been accredited by International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the parent association. The criteria set by IPPF to be its member association weren’t met by FPAN. The fund for FPAN was not even released by IPPF. Because of this, other donors’ belief in us was dwindling. The salary was not significantly raised for years. We had to make our constitution, policies, regulations, and manuals meet the standards of IPPF and we worked very hard for that.
What are your plans to make the organization vibrant?
Under Vision 2020, we aim to double the services provided by FPAN from 3.3 million to 6.6 million people by 2015. We’ll continue to maintain and improve the quality of our services. We’re also expanding our services from the existing 42 districts to other district as well.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I read books, review FPAN related documents and program reports and also take care of my small baby boy.
What’s your career goal?
As an organizational leader, I just want to make sure FPAN grows as a good organization that serves people with excellent quality of care with good governance. Being a representative of youth and women, I believe that they have lots of expectations from me. I really want to see the views of youths respected well and women take the lead role in the organization, including at our branches.
By Pratibha Rawal
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