Nita Bhalla covers disasters and conflicts, development, women's rights, climate change and governance. She is a former Reuters political and general news correspondent and has worked in India, east and southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region. Nita started her career in 1999 with the BBC World Service based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From armed conflicts to killer floods, national elections to climate change, Nita has reported on a wide range of subjects from some of the world's most challenging environments during her almost 15-year career as a foreign correspondent. If it was border wars in the Horn of Africa in the initial years of her professional life then it was the impacts of global warming on millions of South Asia's farmers and the plight of women in this largely patriarchal region that constantly challenged her to find new ways of telling the story. She has a Bachelors degree in Applied Chemistry and a post graduate degree in broadcast journalism from Cardiff University. Nita worked as a science teacher in rural Zimbabwe before becoming a full time journalist. In 2013, Nita Bhalla received the Award of Excellence in Human Rights Reporting by the Society of Asian Publishers (SOPA). Nita was awarded for her outstanding coverage of women’s rights.

Twitter: @nitabhalla