Executive Committee
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Executive Committee
MAN’s activities, projects, campaigns and initiatives are governed by an Executive Committee elected every four years, which sets the overall organizational policy, reviews the work and budget and decides on membership and affiliations. MAN believes in transparency, inclusion and participation. Its General Meeting is held annually and Executive meetings are held at least once every quarter. Its books of account are audited annually. The Executive Committee is composed of seven members.
Mr. Laxman Datt Pant
(Expertise: media ethics, safety of journalists, research, gender & media, media rights, documentation & writing, effective communications, project development)
The Recipient of the “International Communication Excellence Award-2020”, Mr. Laxman Datt Pant serves as the Chairperson of Media Action Nepal. With a role to advise & update the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) on cases of attacks against media & journalists, & media freedom violations at the global level, in February, 2022, Mr. Pant was elected as one of the three Co-Chairs of the Media Freedom Coalition-Consultative Network (MFC-CN).
An Adjunct Professor of Media Ethics & Safety in Digital Age at the Tbilisi State University (under Erasmus+) in Georgia, he taught development journalism at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh (2008-2009) & various courses of media studies at Kathmandu University in Nepal (2010-2018). In addition to delivering guest lectures in the reputed Universities across the world, Pant worked as the Coordinator for Future Communicators’ Project implemented by School of Journalism of the Yunnan University, China (2019-2021).
Pant started his career as a journalist more than two decades ago and worked with numerous media institutions in different capacities ranging from a reporter to an editor. Prior to founding Media Action Nepal, he served as Head of Communications at UNESCO, Communications Specialist at UNDP, Media Consultant for donor/multi-donor funded projects/programs of various Ministries , & has formulated numbers of media & communications strategies for national/international organizations. An internationally acclaimed media researcher, trainer, media rights advocate, & communications strategist, Mr. Pant worked as South Asia Journalist for DevelopmentAid, hosted/produced over 300 episodes of POWERchat (Nepal’s only TV talk show in English discussing development). An author of more than a dozen books, Pant has contributed numbers of research articles and book chapters to national and international journals & anthologies on different disciplines of media.
Co-editor of the UNESCO research publication Supporting Safety of Journalists in Nepal: An Assessment Based on UNESCO‘s Safety Indicators- A Media safety Landscape of Nepal (2016) , co-editor/lead researcher of the UNESCO/PMA study on Impact of COVID-19 on media freedom, journalist safety and media viability in Southeast Asia (2021), Pant also served as the Member of the Advisory Editorial Board/Author, IGI Global, USA: For books titled “Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety (2020)” & “Discrimination, Gender Equality and Safety Risks in Journalism (2021)” . A PhD Scholar in Media Ethics & Professionalism at the Infrastructure University, Malaysia, Pant holds extensive knowledge of the local, regional and international media environment.
Ms. Priyanka Jha
(Expertise: media monitoring, conflict & gender sensitivity, research, writing and facilitation skills)
Ms. Jha holds Master’s degree in Conflict and Peace Studies and an undergraduate degree in Media Studies. She served as a journalist for a number of national media outlets. Also, she worked in a number of research projects on media and freedom of expression. Interested in and worked with projects related to freedom of speech, media and gender, Jha specializes in the areas of social inclusion and gender equality. She has worked/supported to number of national and international campaigns/institutions including Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) and the UNESCO as media monitor and researcher.
Mr. Ganesh Prasad Ghimire
(Expertise: Human rights and gender justice, media rights and freedom of expression, coordination and communications, public relations)
Recipient of the International Human Rights Hero Award, 2019, Adv. Ghimire brings with him more than two decades of experience in human rights, journalism and education working for different institutions in Nepal. With a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) specializing in human rights and gender justice, Ghimire has contributed towards the protection of the rights of deprived communities including children, women and journalists through documentation of human rights abuses and the advocacy of the just society. He serves as a co-coordinator of Amnesty International Group 3, Kathmandu, Nepal.
A human right educator, activist and rights advocate, Ghimire is an advisor at Sutra Centre, the mother organization of Kadambari Memorial College. He teaches human rights, social justice and social work, law and social work courses to undergraduate students. He served as a reporter covering human rights and social justice issues for Image Television and the Nepali TV, UK for more than five years.
Ms. Dipa KC
(Expertise: financing & administrative works, monitoring and evaluation, child rights & education)
Ms. KC holds Bachelor’s degree in education with advanced training in monitoring and evaluation & child centered education.
Mr. Yam Bahadur Dura
(Expertise: Project development, proposal writing, human rights, cultural communication, writing and documentation, media teaching & training)
Mr. Dura is an expert on issues of human rights and cultural communication, who worked in human rights and development fields leading/coordinating communications and media projects. A former journalist of Nepal’s leading media houses such as Kantipur and Kamana Publications, Dura has been teaching Mass Communication and Journalism for more than 12 years at Madan Bhandari Memorial College (MBMC) affiliated to Tribhuvan University (TU). He has published research articles in MBM Anthology, a scholarly publication, published by Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of MBMC. He worked for different organizations including Nepal Press Institute (NPI), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in different capacities carrying out media and communication related activities. He writes on media and contemporary issues in Nepali vernaculars.
Mr. Dura is a Ph. D. Scholar in Journalism at TU.
Mr. Aashish Mishra
(Expertise: Writing and editing, project management, coordination and communications, translations)
Mr. Mishra is a reporter with The Rising Nepal English daily covering social and cultural issues. He graduated in Media Studies from Kathmandu University at the top of his class in 2019. Fluent in Nepali, English, Nepalbhasa and Hindi, Mishra has worked in various capacities with Nepali Times, Key Advertising Service Pvt. Ltd. and has assisted the Delegation of the European Union in Nepal for its communication and visibility project management, project publicity and social media content generating. During his college years, he has been involved in various research and audio/video projects.
