India’s anti-discrimination champion Varsha Deshpande wins 2025 United Nations Population Award

Varsha Deshpande, a pioneering women’s rights activist with more than 35 years of experience working on gender-based violence, discrimination, and gender, has been awarded the United Nations Population Award 2025 in the individual category. Deshpande founded the Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal of India in 1990 to advance women’s rights and gender justice. She tirelessly works to empower grassroots women by building their vocational skills, connecting them to vital resources and services, and fostering their financial independence.

She has also spearheaded numerous programmes, including ones addressing child marriage through the empowerment of adolescent girls and engagement with men and boys; safeguarding the rights of women in the informal sector; and promoting joint property registration to boost women’s access to assets.

She is also a member of various statutory bodies established by the Government of India and state governments, and has provided instrumental support for the law aimed at preventing gender-biased sex selection in India.

The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) has won the award in the institution category.

IUSSP, founded in 1927, has played a pivotal role in advancing population science and policy. It has been instrumental in addressing critical population challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, by fostering collaborative research, building capacity among early-career and mid-career demographers, and providing platforms for knowledge exchange.

IUSSP helped establish regional population associations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and tackles issues relating to reproductive health, gender, migration, climate change, and the linkages between population dynamics and sustainable development. It bridges the gap between research and policy, and ensures that population issues remain at the forefront of global development agendas.

Each year, the Committee for the United Nations Population Award honours an individual and/or institution in recognition of outstanding contributions to population and reproductive health issues and solutions. The award, established by the General Assembly in 1981 and first presented in 1983, is now in its 40th year. It consists of a gold medal, a diploma, and a monetary prize.