Ms Mandira Sharma is one of Nepal's civil society leaders. She founded the Advocacy Forum, a human rights organisations, which conducted investigations and filed cases on behalf of thousands victims of Nepal's 10-year civil war, which began in the mid- 1990s. Mandira's innovative grassroots work linking to the national and international human rights mechanisms has  a far-reaching impact on rule of law and human rights in the country. 

For her courage and tenacity, Mandira Sharma was given the Human Rights Watch award, one of the most prestigious honor in the field of human rights.

She received her BA in Law degree from Tribhuwan University in Kathmandu and her LLM degree in International Human Rights from the Law University of Essex in Colchester, England.