Durapada Sapkota is the Under Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and oversees the division of Regional Organizations. Like any other Under Secretary, she works as the mediator and her job is to establish and develop the relations between Nepal and other countries and various international organizations. She has been working with MoFA since 2010. She holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and Education. 
She shares with Prasuma Rawal of Republica the essence of being a diplomat.  

Could you tell us about your day-to-day activities?
The work is divided into different sectors. There are bilateral and multilateral divisions which look after communications, trade, border management tasks or maintaining bilateral relations with other countries. I come under the multilateral division of Regional Organizations that deals with maintaining relations with SAARC, BIMSTEC, ACD and so on. Nepal is the chair of SAARC and BIMSTEC and we have to manage their affairs and find out how we can take maximum benefits from these organizations. There are also works regarding trades, energy, agricultural development and investments where we communicate with the concerned ministries and focus on priority issues. Managing the visits of other foreign delegates or guests also comes under my responsibility.

Can females working in this position make any difference?
Yes, I personally feel that women are more sincere and disciplined in carrying out the tasks handed to them. In my current post, I work as a representative of the whole country.

During my previous visits, I’ve had those encounters when other foreign dignitaries were delighted to see a female representative from Nepal. As the issues regarding gender equalities are prevalent in the globe, it’s good to represent a country as a woman. A woman can share the information of her country and tell others about the opportunities women get. Fortunately, the number of females working with MoFA has increased since 2010 which is a good thing. 

Why do you think your job is important?
It is a huge platform to share your ideas and vision with a bigger mass. Especially when we attend discussions regarding major issues, we get to address them and present our ideas as per the country’s interest and when we accomplish this it can be a great achievement. Basically, we are the representatives of our country and we promote our country’s culture, tourism sectors and also play the roles of establishing mutual and healthy relations with other countries.

What are the changes that you’d like to see in this work?
We still follow the traditional methods of doing work and there aren’t research based projects. This makes us more backward among other nations. There should be some ground level changes even in the ongoing development activities. I believe, for this, there should be a change from the education level itself. Innovative ideas should be introduced from school level which will help the upcoming generation to focus on practical based works.

What message would you like to convey to the youths interested in this field?
If you’re a true patriot, who has a vision to represent their country and create some significant impacts, Foreign Ministry is a great platform for you. Many of the youths do not consider the opportunities of the country and fly abroad. But there are many opportunities here for people who are interested in fields such as diplomacy, public relations, economics and so on.

 
• durapada sapkota
 
• under secretary
 
• ministry of foreign affairs
 
• foreign service