Ms. Kanchan Lama holds a Master’s degree in Political Science, a BA (Hons), and a Diploma in Project Development and Management (PDM), complemented by specialized training in Gender
and Development, Impact Evaluation, Participatory Research, and Training. She brings over 30 years of robust theoretical and practical experience in gender analysis, mainstreaming,
research, training, review, and evaluation. She has worked extensively with major international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies at both national and international levels. She actively
represents the Women Major Group in global policy dialogues, particularly advocating for women rights in benefit-sharing systems within natural resource management.

Her participation spans several UN global forums, including UNFF, CSD, UNFCCC, SDG, and COP. Ms. Lama serves inter alia, as BoD member to Forest Action Nepal (FAN), South Asian Institute for Advanced Studies (SIAS), remained past BoD to Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and NRM (WOCAN), past Chairperson to Community of Evaluators Nepal (COE-N), the founder Advisor to Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) and mentor to HIMAWANTI (women’s rights in NRM) and CSRC (Land rights) and Chair to Women Leading for Change in NRM (WLCN). Professionally she remained instrumental to designing of Nepal’s first-ever National Gender Equality Policy for the Ministry of Women, Children, and Elderly (2016–2018), developing the National Gender Equality Policy for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in Timor-Leste (2008), creating a gender-responsive pedagogy course for the University of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, leading the Country Gender Action Plans for UNICEF Afghanistan (2014–2017) and UNICEF India (2016–2019), formulating GESI strategies for the Ministry of Forest and Environment (GoN, 2009), the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (GoN), and the Master Plan for the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (GoN) and in authoring several gender training manuals and articles on gender-responsive budgeting and climate change, primarily serving as a consultant to UN organizations and INGOs across the Asia region. As an advocator on gender just climate financing, she spoke at COP 27 and COP28 as a panellist in the Canadian, Namibian and Senegal pavilions, where she shared insights on gender-just violence free climate financing and intersectional feminist approaches to program development and action research. As an independent Gender, Inclusion Evaluator, she recently conducted intersectional research and drafted evidence-based country case on Inclusion in GEF projects in Nepal for World Bank- GEF-IOE office, Washington DC. She is currently engaged in research and advocacy on intersectional, gender responsive, and indigenous responsive climate finance systems.