Sushma Yonzon has a wide range of experience across maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health services, the management of malnutrition and emergency response. She possesses knowledge of local contexts and issues, particularly around the causes of maternal and newborn deaths, which she writes about for UNICEF in case studies. Yonzon is experienced in advocacy to authorities at the municipality and provincial levels. She works with female Community Health Volunteers to build their capacity for advocacy too. She has facilitated bottleneck analyses of health services to improve quality through the development of problem-specific action plans based on the identified root causes. Yonzon believes in the importance of good nutrition and advocates about the need for healthy diets. She worked with female Community Health Volunteers in remote areas to organize a cooking demonstration. Yonzon is a voice for gender equality, girls’ education and women’s health, who strongly rejects child marriage and the harmful traditional practice of Chhaupadi (a form of menstrual taboo and shunning of menstruating women).
Community Hero
Sushma Yonzon
(NPL) Nepal: NurseNominee Highlights:
Sushma Yonzon is a dynamic nursing professional from a marginalized ethnic group of Nepal. She has worked in various clinical and community settings, as a trainer, nutrition officer, district coordinator and consultant for UNICEF Nepal. She is particularly compassionate about the health problems of women, living in the hard-to-reach areas.