Posted:
by QW+ staff writer
The company we keep: Dr Shakira Choonara
Dr Shakira Choonara is a multi-award-winning independent public health practitioner. She is widely recognised for championing universal health coverage, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and youth development. She serves is a member of the International Congress Council for the upcoming 18th World Congress on Public Health to be held in South Africa in 2026 and is also an external evaluator of the United Population Fund’s flagship State of the World Population Report which will be launched in the final quarter of 2026.
Pronouns? She/her
Born? 1989, Johannesburg, South Africa
School? West Ridge High School
University? University of the Witwatersrand
First job? Back in the day, my first job was being a store assistant at Stuttafords.
Home? Johannesburg
Transport? I’m usually jet-setting across the world for different projects, hopping between trains, ferries, and even tuk-tuks in Kenya and Tanzania. When I’m home, I’m a Toyota girl through and through.
Book on your bedside table? Swallowing the Sun by Lakshmi Puri, former Deputy Executive Director of UN Women
Music in your playlist? Aya Nakamura and Sho Madjozi. I do enjoy listening to religious tunes as well – they’re soothing.
Describe your job in no more than seven words: Championing global health, gender equality, youth development.
What keeps you awake at night? The state of world affairs and that global health is now at a crossroads. We are at a point in history where things could either improve or significantly worsen.
Who is your biggest hero? At the moment, it would definitely, hands down, be Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York.
Remote or office? Remote
What’s the most exciting part of your job? Seeing ideas turn into impact, whether it’s publishing major global health reports or research publications that are cited and used by a range of stakeholders. Also designing and delivering youth leadership programmes.
Career highlight? A major highlight was contributing to the team that supported the adoption of the 2022–2030 Working for Health Action Plan by Member States at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Being stationed at both WHO Headquarters in Geneva and UN Women Headquarters in New York are definitely “pinch-me” career moments, including having the opportunity to curate and moderate high-level policy events. I often paused and appreciated the scale and impact of the spaces I was tasked with leading.
What is your superpower? Unlimited energy for doing what I love
What is the least known fact about you? I’m naturally shy, but I give myself epic pep talks and no one would ever guess.
If you could get the ear of one person, to convince them your work is important, who would it be? It would be perfect to have an invitation to the White House so that I can discuss and challenge President Trump on the negative impacts of his administration’s policies on women’s and vulnerable populations’ health.
If you had the power to pass a presidential decree, what would it be? Oh, I have been waiting to be President of South Africa! My decree would be: “All citizens shall have access to quality, affordable healthcare. This National Health Insurance programme, our path to Universal Health Coverage, must prioritise quality above all, ensuring safe, effective, and accessible care for everyone, everywhere”. The keyword is quality, which is imperative for successful implementation of the NHI.
Your best piece of advice? My dad’s advice, “When travelling, see as many places as you can, you may never return, it may be expensive now, but it will be even more expensive in ten years’ time.” In just over a decade, that piece of advice has taken me to 60+ countries and I have never looked back.
What’s your next big thing? Having recently returned to South Africa, I’m now looking ahead to a future in politics where I can serve and contribute to the country’s progress.
What do you do to relax? Adventure sports such as skydiving, yoga, walks in nature, watching and laughing at Instagram reels!