Ms Rashmila Shakya is a PhD candidate in the Governance and Inclusive Development (GID) programme group of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). She engages with the topics of masculinities and early marriage and the lessons that can be drawn for international and national policy and practice in her doctoral research project.  Her research also belongs to the "Her Choice: Building Child Marriage Free Communities" programme which aims to support the creation of child marriage-free communities in which girls and young women are free to decide if, when, and whom to marry. 

She holds a master's degree in sociology, an MBA from Tribhuvan University in Nepal and a certificate of nonprofit management from Open University in the United Kingdom. She has long-term working experience in the fields of women, children, public health and human rights. She is also a member of various global and national networks related to women, children, human rights and public health such as Girls not Brides (GNB) and International Child Helpline (CHI). She held the position of project director in a pioneering child rights organization in Nepal (called "Child Labor of the Nepal Concern Center"). She has designed, led and completed multiple multi-country, multi-stakeholder and national projects related to women, children, human rights, alcoholism, drugs and development.