Shakira Choonara

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South Africa

Dr. Choonara is a renowned health researcher, bold activist, and the 2017 Woman of the Year in Health, in South Africa. She is also listed as Destiny Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women under 40” in SA and is currently employed as the obesity program coordinator for SA at the Washington based NGO, Global Health Advocacy Incubator. Dr. Choonara holds a Ph.D. in public health, BA honors (cum laude) and master's in demography from the University of the Witwatersrand, SA. She is widely known and published for her work in public health and described as an award-winning researcher on the fronts of universal health coverage, health governance, gender equality, disability, and malaria prevention. She was previously employed as an Adolescent Healthcare manager at the SRHR Africa Trust and she successfully led and developed cutting-edge youth leadership and advocacy programmes including training (#YouthQuake) in Sexual and Reproductive Health.

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