SPH Endowed Fellow: Manahil Siddiqi

Tuesday, October 16, 2018
photo
 
 

Areas of Study: Community-Oriented Public Health Practice; Global Center for Integrated Health of Women, Adolescents and Children
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky and Karachi, Pakistan

Every year, 12 million girls are married before they are 18 – threatening their health, education, safety and future. Manahil Siddiqi aims to put a stop to it.

The MPH student is leading a study with Professor Donna Denno to understand declines in child marriage rates in Rajasthan, India. Results could inform strategic approaches to accelerate progress in the country and elsewhere, she said. Discovering her passion for the field early on in college, Siddiqi self-designed her major in global health. After graduating, she was introduced to the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program by a mentor, who was an alumna of the program.

“My strongest convictions about equity and social justice are reflected in the field of public health,” Siddiqi said. “No child should be without life-saving vaccines, no girl should be forced into marriage at 15, and no woman should die in childbirth.”

She recently spent a year with the World Health Organization (WHO), where she helped develop advocacy tools to support efforts to improve adolescent, sexual and reproductive health. She also presented at the Girls Not Brides global meeting, where she met some of the world’s leading advocates to end child marriage as well as survivors. She now works as a WHO consultant.

“I’m very appreciative of the SPH Endowed Fellowship,” Siddiqi said. “It’s encouraging to be recognized for all I’ve accomplished thus far, and the award propels me to continue these efforts in the future.”

Learn more about Manahil Siddiqi in a Q&A.

If you are interested in supporting future SPH Endowed Fellows, please contact SPH Advancement at sphadv@uw.edu.