2025 UHC Day Champion
Mayra Tirira
Executive Director of Surkuna, Ecuador
Browse other champions
- Countries driving UHC progress
- Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite, Founder and President of UNITE - Parliamentarian’s Network for Global Health
- Dr. Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Vice Chair and Senior Advisor, International Health Policy Program Foundation, Thailand
- Solange Mbaye, Regional Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Senegal
- Levy Mkandawire, Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Zambia
- Concepta Kwaleyela, President of the Midwives Association of Zambia
- Professor Anne Beatrice Kihara, Former President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kenya
- Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu, Country Manager for Amref, Malawi
- Habibou Ouedraogo, Health Economist, Ministry of Health, Burkina Faso
- Hon. Hyun-Young Shin, Congresswoman, 21st National Assembly of Republic of Korea
The Norma Case showed that strategic litigation can transform health systems. Listening to girls and adolescents—and protecting their rights—must be at the center of any UHC agenda.
Mayra Tirira Rubio, Executive Director of Surkuna, has been a crucial voice in advancing health systems that deliver universal health coverage (UHC) with a strong gender and reproductive justice lens. Her leadership was decisive in the Norma Case, litigated alongside the Niñas, No Madres movement, which resulted in a historic international decision condemning the State for denying a child survivor of sexual violence timely access to information, comprehensive care, and essential sexual and reproductive health services. This decision underscores that UHC can only be achieved when health and justice systems guarantee high-quality, violence-free, and financially accessible services, especially for those facing the greatest barriers. Under Mayra’s direction, Surkuna combined strategic litigation, psychosocial support, and community-based advocacy, demonstrating that advancing UHC requires listening to girls and adolescents and ensuring holistic, rights-based respons
