Indian social activist Varsha Deshpande has been honoured with the prestigious 2025 UN Population Award in the individual category. She was recognised for her decades-long work in promoting gender equality, preventing child marriage, and combating sex-selective practices through her organisation Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal.

Key Points:

• Varsha Deshpande received the 2025 UN Population Award in the individual category, becoming one of the few Indians after Indira Gandhi and JRD Tata to achieve this global honour.
• She has been working for over 35 years to empower women and girls through legal aid, financial inclusion, and campaigns against gender-based discrimination.
• Her organisation, Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal, founded in 1990, focuses on grassroots advocacy and rights awareness in Maharashtra.
• Deshpande played a key role in the implementation of the PCPNDT Act, including conducting sting operations and leading the Lek Vachva movement against female foeticide.
• UNFPA recognised her efforts in preventing hundreds of child marriages, securing legal and reproductive rights, and promoting gender justice among youth and marginalised women.