New Delhi: Feminist scholar and activist Gita Sen has won the prestigious Dan David Prize for her expansive work in the fields of population policies, reproductive and sexual health, women’s rights, poverty, labour markets and global governance.
The Dan David Prize annually awards three prizes of $1 million each to globally inspiring individuals and organisations. It is endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University.
Its official website says that it recognises and encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms.
Sen is the director of the Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity and Social Determinants of Health at the Public Health Foundation of India.
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She has combined her 35 years of academic career with policy advocacy and activism, helping to shape the global paradigm shift on population and development.
“Her innovative research on disadvantaged populations in low income rural settings, together with her mentorship of young scholars and advocates, has made a significant impact on the field,” a press release from the Dan David Foundation headquartered at Tel Aviv University said.
The fields chosen for honouring contributions in the three categories this year are cultural preservation and revival (past category), gender equality (present category), and artificial intelligence (future category).
Sen will be splitting the $1 million prize in the present category for this year with Debora Diniz who is the deputy director of the rights and justice unit for the International Planned Parenthood Federation-Western Hemisphere Region.
Sen holds a doctoral degree in economics from the Stanford University. She is an adjunct professor of global health and population at Harvard University and has been a professor of public policy at the Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru.
She also serves as the general coordinator of the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, of which she is a founding member and has worked with the United Nations in several capacities. She serves on the Scientific and Technical Advisory group for the WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research.
(With PTI inputs)