ISLAMABAD: US Mission Pakistan’s Deputy Chief Andrew Schofer named Pakistani midwife Neha Mankani as the mission’s ‘Woman of Courage’ for 2023 at an event commemorating Women’s History Month on Monday.

Mankani, an alumna of the US government-funded Fulbright Programme, established the Mama Baby Fund in 2019 to support new mothers who could not afford prenatal and postnatal care. In fall of 2022, she and her team courageously stepped in to serve pregnant women and babies in need in Sindh. She travelled to internally displaced people’s camps to provide prenatal care and kits to help ensure safe deliveries.

“Neha exemplifies leadership, courage, and strength, and we’re so pleased to see one of our Fulbright Programme alumna making such a strong contribution to her country,” Schofer said.

Mankani commented, “In all of the climate-affected communities I have worked in – from the coastal islands of Karachi to displaced flood-affected communities in Sindh and Balochistan – it is very clear that climate change and complex emergencies affect women and children very differently. Imagine all of the vulnerabilities of being pregnant, in labour, 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 programmes are centred on these gaps. Thank you to the US Embassy for this recognition, for its support for flood-affected communities, and for continuing to raise awareness of the continuing humanitarian needs after the floods.”

US Mission Pakistan’s 2023 Woman of Courage award is one of a wide range of efforts by the United States to support women and girls in Pakistan across sectors ranging from education to health to economic empowerment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023