Binalakshmi Nepram Visits Oslo Governance Centre

November 7, 2022

Ms. Bina Nepram (third from left) & Thoralf Stenvold visiting UNDP Oslo Governance Centre's office in Oslo meeting Julie Berg, Peter Smeplass, Anja Bergum & Silje Hornnes

 

The Oslo Governance Centre was honored to host ms. Binalakshmi "Bina" Nepram AT OUR OFFICES 

Bina is an indigenous scholar and human rights advocate whose work in Manipur, Northeast India, and South Asia focuses on advancing women-led peace, security, and disarmament, and the strengthening of democracy. In addition, Ms. Nepram is a fellow at Harvard University's Asia Center, and is the founder of three organizations; the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network; the Control Arms Foundation of India; and the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, Gender Justice and Peace. Bina has also written and edited five books, including Where Are Our Women in Decision Making? (2016) and Deepening, Diversity, and Women's Rights in India (2019). Her work has received international recognition, including the Anna Politskovskaya Award (2018) and the Women have Wings Award (2016).

We had an intriguing discussion on Bina's work and recent research, and on the future direction of the Oslo Governance Centre, given that the center is presently in a transformative period, seeking to determine its research and engagement agendas for the next four years.

Bina shared about the research and ground-level experiences she has acquired in Northeast India, as well as other parts of Asia and the world. She acknowledged global governance challenges and stressed the necessity of intersectionality in research and governance processes.

“I am trained as a scholar and believe that good policy planning starts with good research”. 

She addressed research deficiencies in governance where there is a lack of accurate understanding of experiences "on the ground," in which she highlighted the pivotal role of inclusive transformation. Ms. Nepram further noted the value of indigenous methodologies, or indigenous forms of knowledge development, particularly in governance discourse. The importance of women and other minorities as crucial participants in governance research and policy-making procedures was also discussed.