Lyonpo
Sangay Ngedup

From Bhutan's foreign missions to its hospital wards and the Council of Ministers, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup's career has moved between the institutions that shape national policy and the communities those policies are intended to serve. Beginning in the Royal Bhutanese Foreign Service, he went on to hold senior appointments in the health sector, lead the Health and Education and Agriculture portfolios, and serve twice as Prime Minister under His Majesty the Fourth King.

Health has remained a continuing thread throughout that journey. He chaired the WHO Executive Board, served on the first Gavi Board and participated in the organisation's early development, and ensured that the Bhutan Health Trust Fund had enough funding to support the long-term financing of vaccines and essential medicines. In 2002, that work took him beyond offices and meeting rooms when he walked 560 kilometres from Trashigang to Thimphu, bringing the purpose of the Fund directly to communities along the route.

His career also extended to government reform through Good Governance and Good Governance Plus; regional cooperation through the South Asia Foundation; and Bhutan's transition to parliamentary democracy, during which he became the founding president of the People's Democratic Party. Together, these chapters form a wider record of public service spanning national institutions, local communities and international forums.