Juliana Lohar from Singbuli tea garden in Mirik has been selected for the prestigious Ford Global Fellowship, which is an initiative by one of the world’s largest foundations to supports young leaders from around the world who are advancing innovative solutions to end inequality.

Juliana is currently based in Goa and is a coordinator with ARZ (Anyay Rahit Zindagi), a non-government organisation working towards combating sex trafficking in India.

“The selection involved a rigorous process with interviews at the regional (involving India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and global level,” Juliana told The Telegraph over the phone from Goa.

Juliana has worked for the rescue of children and women from commercial sexual exploitation and eradication of the religious practice of dedicating girls as devadasis (victims of sex trafficking) in Vasco, Goa, apart from providing economic rehabilitation to victims.

“In the past, ARZ started a laundry service in Goa to provide economic support to the victims. Recently, we have also started a knitting program with the same goal,” said Juliana, who played a key role in launching these projects. Nearly 900 people are attached to the laundry initiative in Goa.

“I developed interest to work for the welfare of victims of sex trafficking when I was pursing my masters in social work in Mumbai in 2002. I believe that the fellowship will provide me an opportunity to learn from other cohorts and also exchange ideas to create a global platform to create a gender-equal society,” said Juliana, who is in her early 40s.

The social worker also plans to replicate the learning from Goa, which is a major destination for sex trafficking in source areas, to prevent the crime.

Smita Chakraburtty, founder, Prison Aid and Action Research (PAAR) and an independent prison researcher, who was commissioned by Patna High Court in 2015 to inspect all 58 prisons in Bihar and come up with recommendations for systemic change, is the other Indian to be selected for the fellowship.

Each of the selected fellows will receive a stipend of $25,000 (around Rs 18.5 lakh) as part of the fellowship apart from support to help the fellows “work better, faster and deeper”.

The US-based Ford Foundation, which started this fellowship last year, is looking to invest $50 million over the next 10 years to create a network of 240 fellows from across the globe who are working on pressing issues.

In 2020, the foundation had selected 24 fellows while 48 were selected this year from across the world.

The foundation’s website states that they are looking for “committed leaders who have demonstrated meaningful impact, but whose full potential has yet to be fully realised because of a lack of resources or access to a global network”.